Opposition parties to submit request for parliamentary probe into Itaewon tragedy

All News 11:07 November 09, 2022

SEOUL, Nov. 9 (Yonhap) -- The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) and two minor progressive parties will submit a joint request Wednesday for a parliamentary investigation into the Itaewon crowd crush, officials said.

The DP, the Justice Party and the Basic Income Party said they plan to submit the request to the National Assembly's Bills Division on Wednesday afternoon, with an aim to have the request reported at a parliamentary plenary session scheduled for Thursday.

Once the request is reported at a plenary session, the National Assembly speaker can form a special committee in charge of a probe through discussions with party leaders. The committee is then required to come up with an investigation plan that should be approved at a plenary session.

The three parties plan to approve the investigation plan on Nov. 24.

Opposition parties have been pushing to launch the parliamentary investigation, accusing the government of mishandling the tragedy following revelations that the police snubbed a series of emergency calls warning against overcrowding in Itaewon that day.

The crowd surge killed at least 156 Halloween partygoers in Seoul's entertainment district of Itaewon on Oct. 29, marking the nation's worst disaster since the 2014 Sewol ferry sinking that killed 304 people, mostly high school students.

The ruling People Power Party (PPP) has objected to the call for a parliamentary investigation, claiming it will only hinder ongoing probes.

The DP again urged the PPP to take part in the parliamentary probe.

"People are asking why their kids had to die in Itaewon," DP floor leader Park Hong-keun told the party's Supreme Council meeting. "If the PPP doesn't take part, it would be outrightly defying the people's order to uncover the truth."