SEOUL, June 28 (Korea Bizwire) – A memoir by former National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo has sparked political debate with the claim that President Yoon Suk Yeol speculated the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush may have been manipulated. In his memoir revealed Thursday, Kim recounted his private conversation with Yoon during a breakfast prayer meeting, held [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 22 (Korea Bizwire) – A year after the deadly crowd crush in Seoul’s Itaewon district that claimed 159 lives, survivors and bereaved families still seek the truth behind the bungled disaster response and a proper closure to their loss. The crowd crush, the deadliest ever in South Korea, took place in the nightlife [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 22 (Korea Bizwire) — Bereaved families of the Itaewon crowd crush victims held a joint memorial service for their loved ones Sunday, the first Lunar New Year since the deadly tragedy in the Seoul neighborhood last year. Some 80 family members and relatives of the victims who died in the Oct. 29 crowd [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — Police wrapped up a monthslong investigation Friday into the deadly crowd crush in Seoul’s Itaewon neighborhood last year, with 23 government officials referred to the prosecution on fatal professional negligence and other charges. The special police investigation team concluded the crowd crush was a “man-made” disaster caused by authorities’ [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 4 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean educational authorities are preventing students from participating in rallies, citing the Halloween crowd crush as an excuse, while attempting to restrict their everyday activities. Vice Education Minister Jang Sang-yoon held a meeting with the heads of regional education offices last Sunday, the day after the Itaewon disaster. [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — Concerns are growing that year-end consumption activities could drastically cool down if consumer sentiment is dampened due to the impact of the Halloween crowd crush in Seoul’s Itaewon district. According to the Bank of Korea (BOK), South Korea’s consumer sentiment index (CSI) has remained below 100 for five straight [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 2 (Korea Bizwire) — The Yongsan Ward office began Wednesday to receive applications for disaster relief funds from families of foreign victims killed in the Itaewon crowd crush, officials said. The South Korean government is providing 20 million won (US$14,102) in relief assistance to victims, both Koreans and foreigners, of the Oct. 29 [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 2 (Korea Bizwire) — Prime Minister Han Duck-soo issued an apology Wednesday for making a quip at a media briefing with foreign journalists with regard to the Halloween crowd crush in Itaewon. “Regardless of the circumstances, I apologize for making people feel uncomfortable,” Han said in a statement. During the media briefing Tuesday, [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 2 (Korea Bizwire) — A lax police response to emergency calls on the night of the Itaewon crowd crush came under growing scrutiny and criticism Wednesday following revelations that police snubbed a series of emergency calls about overcrowding in the neighborhood hours before the disaster. The National Police Agency released Tuesday police documents [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 1 (Korea Bizwire) — Provincial governments have canceled their autumnal festivals one after another as the country mourns the deaths of more than 150 people in a Halloween crowd crush in Seoul. The Busan metropolitan government said Monday it has decided to indefinitely postpone this year’s Busan Fireworks Festival set to be held [...]