Politics · South Korea · 1 hr ago
South Korea’s president vows to uncover truth about Itaewon disaster
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung promised to uncover the truth about the 2022 Itaewon disaster at a memorial ceremony in Seoul on its fourth anniversary.
The crowd crush killed 159 people and injured 196 in a narrow street in the Itaewon area during Halloween celebrations.
Lee said the state had failed to protect people and vowed to prevent deaths caused by government absence or neglect.
The special investigation committee’s work has been extended until next September under a law amended in September.
Lee said the investigation should leave no questions unanswered and that its findings should help prevent another disaster.
The government says it is working on safety measures, including a proposed Basic Act on Life Safety, and Lee pledged to keep the victims’ families and the disaster in public memory.
President Lee Jae-myung vowed to uncover the truth about the 2022 Itaewon disaster without leaving any questions unanswered.
He made the pledge at a government memorial ceremony in Seoul on the disaster’s fourth anniversary.
Lee said the special investigation committee’s activity period had been extended until September next year under a revised law.
He said the government would work to prevent a repeat of deaths caused by state absence and neglect.
The crowd crush killed 159 people and injured 196.
- Who
- South Korean President Lee Jae-myung.
- What
- He vowed to uncover the truth about the Itaewon disaster and use it to prevent a recurrence.
- When
- October 29, 2026, the disaster’s fourth anniversary.
- Where
- A government memorial ceremony at Gwanghwamun in Seoul.
- Why
- He said the state must prevent people from being unjustly killed through state absence and neglect.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
A crowd crush in a narrow alley in Itaewon, Seoul, killed 159 people and injured 196.
A revision to the Itaewon disaster truth-finding law extended the special investigation committee’s activity period until September 2027.
Lee spoke at a government memorial ceremony in Gwanghwamun marking the disaster’s fourth anniversary.
- Deaths
- 159 people
- Injuries
- 196 people
- Disaster date
- October 29, 2022
- Memorial location
- Gwanghwamun, Seoul
- Investigation period
- Extended until September 2027
What people are saying
I will uncover the truth so that not a single question remains, and ensure that the truth revealed leads to preventing a recurrence.
That day, the state was absent.
If the state had fulfilled its responsibility, that day in Itaewon would have remained an ordinary day, no different from any other.