My second daughter, who had gone out to dinner with friends after removing her leg cast after a month, never came back. My daughter’s ‘I’m back’ greeting has now become something I can only hear in my dreams. This is the story of Hyeong-woo Hyeong, the father of the late Yoo Yeon-ju, who passed away in the Itaewon disaster two years ago.
He is currently serving as vice chairman of the October 29 Itaewon Disaster Victims’ Family Council. She is speaking out to the world so that her daughter will no longer feel unfair and her sacrifice will not be in vain.
Even two years after the disaster, the exact cause of the accident has not been revealed. The only news we hear is the acquittal of the top officials responsible for the disaster. It is difficult for the bereaved families to just accept the second anniversary of the disaster, but they are facing an even harsher reality.
Vice Chairman Yoo said, “I was filled with anger” when I saw former Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency chief Kim Kwang-ho, following Yongsan-gu District Chief Park Hee-young, being acquitted. He said he wanted to ask the court whether the ruling was truly in accordance with justice and conscience.
“Even if you believe the statement, ‘I didn’t know there would be that many people,’ it is correct to apply ‘manslaughter’ because safety management was neglected. If not, it is ‘murder.’”
On the 18th, about 10 days before the second anniversary of the disaster, I met Mr. Yoo at ‘House of Stars’, a space for memory and communication about the Itaewon disaster in Jung-gu, Seoul. We heard about the feelings ahead of the second anniversary, the progress of the trials of those involved, and the tasks that the Itaewon Disaster Special Investigation Committee must solve. The following is the full interview with Vice Chairman Yoo.
▲ Hyeong-woo Hyeong, father of Yoo Yeon-ju, a victim of the October 29 Itaewon disaster. ⓒPresian (Myeong-seon Lee)
“The bereaved family was found not guilty of killing twice… I was angry.”
Pressian : Former Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Commissioner Kim Gwang-ho, the highest-ranking police official indicted on charges of poor response to the Itaewon disaster, was found not guilty in the first trial. How did you feel about the not guilty verdict?
Hyeong-woo Hyeong-woo : I expected it, but I was devastated when they actually said I was ‘not guilty.’ It is a judicial ruling, but shouldn’t the public feel this way? No matter how much it is said that the law protects those who have, but after experiencing it, I just got angry… .(Sigh) Other bereaved families also sobbed, saying, ‘How can they be found not guilty?’, ‘This is killing children twice,’ and ‘This is causing indelible pain to the bereaved families.’
If those in charge of safety management knew that a large-scale disaster would occur in that situation on the night of October 29 and responded in that way, it would be a ‘murder’ crime. However, because he said, ‘I didn’t know there would be that many people,’ isn’t he being tried for ‘manslaughter’? But even this results in a not guilty verdict? I would like to ask whether the decision is in accordance with justice and conscience.
Pressian : In the ruling of former Commissioner Kim Kwang-ho, the court said, “It appears that information that there is a possibility of a large-scale crowd accident occurring and that preparations for it are necessary could not be identified in detail,” and that it is difficult to view it as a poor response.
Hyeong-woo Hyeong-woo : A week ago, there were reports on the news that it would be the first Halloween since COVID-19 and that a lot of people would flock there. The police were also expecting a crowd of 100,000 people. There was also a lot of talk about ‘candy drugs’ or ‘drug investigation’. So, I also told my daughter Yeon-joo, ‘Don’t accept candy if you go to Itaewon.’
I thought that if the expectation of ‘100,000 people’ was reached, safety management would be taken care of. There was that much faith in the social system. However, because unfamiliar words such as ‘candy drug’ came up, I told my daughter to ‘be careful with candy.’ (Yongsan Police Station, which has jurisdiction over Itaewon, issued a press release on October 27, two days before the disaster, and said, “Close to 100,000 people will gather in a limited space every day this weekend,” and “citizen inconvenience is expected to increase.” Editor. )
Of course, the police would not have thought that a disaster would occur due to the crowds. But aren’t those people responsible for safety management? But the head of the police who was briefed on all the situations that day is not responsible for anything? There were so many calls to 112 that night? (According to Seoul Yongsan Police Station’s ‘Itaewon 112 report status from 10:00 to 11:00 p.m. on October 29,’ 139 cases were reported in 43 minutes from 10:17 to 11:00. Of these, 120 were reports related to the Itaewon disaster. It is estimated that a rescue request signal comes in once every 21 seconds.
Even if you believe the statement, ‘I didn’t know there would be that many people’, it is correct to apply ‘manslaughter’ since safety management was neglected. If not, it is ‘murder’.
Pressian : The charge of poor response was the same, but there were conflicting rulings: ‘Yongsan-gu mayor not guilty’ and ‘Yongsan police chief guilty’.
Hyeong-woo Hyeong-woo : During the trial, the judge kept telling the prosecution that there was ‘insufficient evidence.’ I don’t know how hard the prosecution tried, but I think District Mayor Park Hee-young would not have been found not guilty even if only solid data had been added to show that he was ‘responsible for safety management’. The prosecution also requested a considerable sentence of 7 years in prison. However, the fact that the court declared ‘not guilty’ either means that the prosecution’s investigation was really poor, or the judge intentionally protected the case.
Since the prosecution’s investigation is based on the results of the police special investigation headquarters, there is bound to be a lack of data. The special investigation team investigated for 76 days and only investigated whether the victims had taken drugs or not, rather than problems within the police. So in the end, since there was nothing to announce, wouldn’t it be said that ‘crowd fluidization’ was the cause of the disaster? (The special edition announced the results of the investigation last January and said that the disaster occurred due to “the phenomenon of crowd fluidization, where the density of the crowd increases and voluntarily moves are difficult.” Crowd fluidization refers to “the crowd crowding together in a specific space, causing the entire crowd to collapse.” (Editor) refers to the phenomenon of moving as if being swept away by water, regardless of one’s will.
Pressian : When looking at the ruling that ‘Seoul Police Commissioner Kim Kwang-han is not guilty’ and ‘Yongsan Police Chief Lee Im-jae is guilty’, suspicions arise as to whether they are trying to end the case at the Yongsan Police Station.
Hyeong-woo Hyeong-woo : That’s right. However, the more I look into the situation that day, the more I feel that responsibility for the disaster lies with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. On the day of the disaster, a ‘regime resignation rally’ was held in Gwanghwamun, Seoul, and 70 riot squads (approximately more than 4,000 people) were deployed. Additionally, four mobile units were deployed to the President’s Office (Yongsan) and the President’s residence (Seocho). Where would the troops be deployed? Unless the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency does it, troops are not dispersed like this.
If only one or two police buses had been sent to Itaewon to respond to the protests, I think this tragedy would not have occurred. When the rally ended before 10 p.m., the troops were withdrawn. And you didn’t know that itaewon 112 reports were pouring in? It’s so frustrating, that kind of thing.
▲ ‘Road of Memory and Safety’ in the alley next to the Hamilton Hotel in Itaewon, the site of the October 29 Itaewon disaster. ⓒYonhap News
“Didn’t you ‘apologize’ because you were worried that there might be a ‘drug offender’ among the victims?”
Pressian : The bereaved families pointed out that the court’s successive acquittals were the result of ‘the prosecution’s poor investigation’ and ‘the court’s passive interpretation of the law.’
Hyeong-woo Hyeong-woo : In fact, the court’s trial process is worse than the ‘10.29 Itaewon Disaster Special Investigation Committee’ established after the disaster. They are only conducting a trial to determine whether or not they are responsible for safety management. In that respect, it is a very passive trial and a trial that is not even basic.
Even though Park Hee-young and other Yongsan-gu Office executives were caught claiming that they had lost their cell phones after the disaster and attempted to destroy evidence, which became the reason for their arrest by the special prosecutor, this was not questioned at the trial. In addition, when the intelligence chief of Yongsan Police Station, who was under investigation for suspicion of deleting an intelligence report, died, the theory of responsibility arose from higher-ups, but no further investigation or trial took place. I believe that the Constitutional Court also passively judged the impeachment of Minister of Public Administration and Security Lee Sang-min.
Pressian : Immediately after the disaster, Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min (three days later, on November 1) and Prime Minister Han Deok-soo (a day later, on November 7) apologized. However, there were criticisms that it was an apology that was pushed out of the National Assembly.
Hyeong-woo Hyeong-woo : There was not a single person who met with the bereaved families and explained the situation on the day of the disaster, saying, ‘This is how it happened,’ and saying, ‘I sincerely apologize.’ Prime Minister Han Deok-soo once visited the Noksapyeong joint memorial altar, and when asked, ‘Did you really come to apologize?’, he was kicked out because he said, ‘I came personally, not as prime minister.’
Didn’t President Yoon Seok-yeol, who was said to have held an emergency response meeting all night long, come to the scene the day after the disaster and say ‘concussion’? It is said that President Yoon made an ‘apology’, but he did so at the Buddhist memorial service (November 4th) and not in front of the bereaved families. The only way to mourn the victims was to visit the joint incense burner for the ‘deceased’ in front of City Hall during the mourning period unilaterally declared by the government (October 30 to November 5). There were no portraits and no mourning ribbons were allowed to be worn. They said it was an ‘accident’ and ‘death’.
Looking at the series of circumstances, it seems likely that the president received a report on the drug investigation overnight. Since they were only focusing on the drug investigation, perhaps the special investigation after the disaster also requested a ‘drug autopsy’ from the bereaved families. Also, if Halloween participants were viewed as potential suspects and it was assumed that there were drug offenders among the victims, the government’s apology would have been inappropriate from their perspective. (The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency issued guidelines on ‘prevention of drug crime crackdown’ on October 28, the day before the disaster, and deployed 52 violence detectives in 10 teams to Itaewon alone on the day of the disaster. Editor)
Pressian : Even if he is a suspect, shouldn’t he apologize first if the disaster occurred due to the government’s responsibility or social fault?
Hyeong-woo Hyeong-woo : That’s right. So the more I think about it, the more it seems like my children were victims of police arrests of drug offenders. I think the police only saw everyone who was in the alley next to the Hamilton Hotel that day as a way to gain results.
This is something that many bereaved families have experienced, but on the day of the disaster, the paramedics and police only loaded the injured people into the ambulance and did not load the guardians. Even though they said ‘they are my parents’ and ‘they are my brothers’ and revealed their identities, they did not bring a guardian with them. They didn’t even tell me which hospital I was going to.
After hearing the news of my daughter’s performance, I rushed to Gangnam St. Mary’s Hospital, and they refused to let me even touch the child. When I got to the hospital, it had only been 20 to 30 minutes since I was diagnosed dead. I wanted to shake Yeon-joo, who was lying in bed, to wake him up. But I couldn’t even hold the child’s hand. Even though I told the doctor, ‘I want to donate organs,’ he said, ‘I cannot donate organs because I have been declared dead.’ I wonder if organ donation is not possible after death, or if organ donation is prohibited because the person is considered a suspect. Everything that has happened over the past two years is still full of suspicion.
▲ Hyeong-woo Hyeong-woo, the father of Yoo Yeon-ju, a victim of the October 29 Itaewon disaster, shed tears as he looked at his daughter’s portrait. ⓒPresian (Myeong-seon Lee)
“If the ‘Framework Act on Life Safety’ were enacted in the 21st National Assembly…”
Pressian : That’s why you submitted the ‘No. 1 Truth-Finding Investigation Request’ (No. 1 Complaint) to the ‘Special Investigation Committee to Find the Truth and Prevent Recurrence of the 10.29 Itaewon Disaster’ to clarify the suspicions.
Hyeong-woo Hyeong-woo : All of the bereaved families want to know the truth about what happened in the alley of the Hamilton Hotel on the night of October 29th, why those responsible for safety, including police, fire, and administrative personnel, neglected their duties of responsibility. In particular, I want to know the cause of the disaster that was not revealed during the investigation and trial process focused on criminal punishment.
This content was included in Petition No. 1. △With the relocation of the President’s Office, personnel from the police and local governments were concentrated on work related to the President’s Office, which had an impact on the tragedy; △Why the police focused on cracking down on drug crimes rather than managing crowds; △Information was not properly provided to families after the disaster. It contains 9 demands, including the reason why it was not done, the actions taken until the 159 victims were handed over to their families, and △ the appropriateness of the personnel and roles of each organization deployed at the scene of the disaster.
Song Ki-chun, chairman of the special committee, is expressing his determination to ‘thoroughly investigate the truth,’ but at the same time, he is also saying that ‘it will not be easy.’ Because the investigation itself requires investigating the current government, they seem to be at a loss as to how much they can reveal.
From the perspective of the bereaved families, they hope that when the special investigation committee begins a full-scale investigation, public officials will provide public interest information and evidence about the situation at the time. The moment you let go of justice, saying, ‘Will the world change if I report it?’, evidence and data will disappear. I would like to take this opportunity to ask you a favor.
Pressian : What do you think about the opinion that social disasters should be treated with ‘general laws’ rather than creating ‘special laws’ whenever disasters such as the humidifier disinfectant disaster, Sewol ferry disaster, and Itaewon disaster occur?
Hyeong-woo Hyeong-woo : This content is contained in the ‘Framework Act on Life Safety’, which was abolished in the 21st National Assembly. It is a law that specifies institutional mechanisms to reveal responsibility when a social disaster occurs. It includes the following: △establishment of a permanent independent investigation body, △introduction of a safety impact assessment system, △disclosure of safety information, and △victim protection provisions. We are preparing to propose it again in the 22nd National Assembly.
If the ‘Basic Act on Life Safety’ is enacted in 2020, at the beginning of the 21st National Assembly, an independent permanent disaster investigation body ‘(tentative name)’ will be established in 2022 as recommended by the Special Investigation Committee on Social Disasters (CBC), which investigated the humidifier disinfectant and Sewol Ferry disasters. If the ‘Serious Disaster Investigation Committee’ had been established, the bereaved families would not have had to go through the painful process of shaving their heads and fasting to demand a special law to uncover the truth about the disaster. (The ‘Special Act to Guarantee the Rights of Victims of the 10.29 Itaewon Disaster, Find the Truth, and Prevent Reoccurrence’ was passed at the plenary session of the National Assembly in May, one year and six months after the disaster. President Yoon Seok-yeol criticized the special law that the Democratic Party of Korea passed alone in January. The editor exercised the right to veto (right to request reconsideration).
▲ The October 29 Itaewon Disaster Bereaved Families Council declared the period until the 29th as a week of intensive remembrance for the second anniversary of the disaster. The citizens’ memorial service commemorating the second anniversary of the October 29 Itaewon disaster will be held at Seoul Plaza in front of City Hall on the 26th at 6:34 PM, the time of the first 112 call. ⓒYonhap News
“I want to live so that the sacrifice of performing arts is not in vain.”
Pressian : I want to hear about the situation on the day of the disaster. How did you hear about your second daughter’s performance?
Hyeong-woo Hyeong-woo : That day was the day Yeonju took off the leg cast she had been wearing for a month. After returning from the hospital, I took a nap, woke up, and decided to go to Itaewon with my friends to eat, so I told them to ‘have fun and come back.’ And then the two of them got together.
My wife and I left the house before the concert around 4:30 PM. Yeonjoo probably left the house a little after 6 p.m. My house is Cheonggu Station (Lines 5 and 6), and I paid at the cosmetics store at Yaksu Station (Lines 3 and 6), which is the next station. I think I arrived in Itaewon around 7 to 7:30 PM. Looking at the time of the photos saved in the iPhone cloud, the time I met my friends for dinner and left the restaurant was around 9:30 PM.
My wife and I were at Gwanghwamun and City Hall and came home around 11:20 p.m. However, the subtitle ‘Itaewon accident occurred’ appeared in red letters on the TV screen. After about 10 minutes, the breaking news of ‘all rescued’ came out, followed immediately by the subtitle ’50 casualties’. So I called Yeonjoo. I thought, ‘It’s time to go back to the school dormitory’… . It was around 11:30-40 PM. But Yeonjoo did not answer the phone.
Anxiety came over me. I left home with my wife, but since the subway service was closed, we had a hard time finding a taxi. Since there was a police car, I told her that my daughter had gone to Itaewon and asked for help to take her at least as far as Hangangjin (Line 6). At that time, Yeonju’s mother’s cell phone received a call from the school dormitory, followed by a call from Gangnam St. Mary’s Hospital.
I ran out onto the road and recklessly grabbed a passing car and asked for help. Until then, I thought Yeonju was injured somewhere. When I arrived at the hospital, a police officer led me into the hallway outside the emergency room. Then he said, ‘Just check the face.’ They said he was already ‘dead’ and they couldn’t even touch him.
Pressian : I don’t think it would have been easy to accept my daughter’s absence.
Hyeong-woo Hyeong-woo : It was very difficult for my wife and I. After Yeonju’s funeral, he lived in the cathedral for about 150 days. I prayed and prayed. As I began to believe that Yeonju had gone to a good place, I took charge of the council with the idea of relieving the injustice done to Yeonju.
Yeonjoo was a confident child from a young age. My dream was to become a police officer. Although he couldn’t go to police academy, he said he wanted to major in IT and work in the police cyber investigation unit. Last February, I received an honorary diploma from school on behalf of my daughter, and it seemed like I did what my daughter couldn’t finish, even if it was on her behalf. I was just grateful.
Even now, he seems to be begging, saying, ‘Dad, I want to eat something,’ and he seems to be opening the door and coming in, saying, ‘Dad, I’m home.’ In my dreams, I play music, eat delicious food, and do whatever I want with Omok. Even while dreaming, I think, ‘I wish this were real.’ But when I open my eyes, reality is frustrating and hopeless… .
All 159 of them are children who don’t feel any pain even if they look at them. The activities and struggles of bereaved families are not only for the children who passed away, but also for the children who are with us now and for the children of the future.
Pressian : My normal life changed after that day. Do you feel the change yourself?
Hyeong-woo Hyeong-woo : As a victim of this society, when I faced the historical reality, I felt ashamed and thought, ‘I have lived all this time just ignoring it.’ As a member of society, I don’t think I would have been this embarrassed if I had shown even a little interest and raised my voice. It makes me reflect.
After experiencing it for the past two years, I realized that just doing my job at my job doesn’t mean I can do it. I couldn’t make any changes by just doing my job. Change will only happen if you participate with the mindset of changing the world for yourself. I want to live so that the sacrifice of playing is not in vain. I believe that if we have the courage to live without turning away, the world will change.
▲ Yoo Yeon-ju, a victim of the October 29 Itaewon disaster, appears while alive. (Provided by father Hyeong-woo Hyeong)
