A disaster still in progress

A thorough and rigorous investigation into the cause and the course of the disaster must follow. So many lives should never perish mercilessly again.

CHO HYUN-SOOKThe author is the deputy economic policy news editor at the JoongAng Ilbo. Itaewon-dong has always been a busy place. The name itself originates from yeokwon in the Joseon Dynasty. The term yeok refers to a place lending horses to government officials and messengers before a long journey, and the term won means a government facility providing lodging and meals. Not far from the current Itaewon-dong had been the site of such a won named Itaewon, near the current Yongsan High School in Yongsan District, central Seoul.

Names of key transportation points still have names ending with won, such as in Jochiwon, Indeokwon and Janghowon, and all of them were the sites of yeokwon. Itaewon connected the capital, the central and the Yeongnam regions as a transportation hub since the Goryeo Dynasty. It was a place where many people and supplies gathered as they traveled between the Yeongnam region and the capital.

A catastrophe unfolded in present-day Itaewon, a place where heavy crowds fill every alleyway on weekends and holidays. Moreover, it was the first Halloween weekend without a mask mandate since the Covid-19 outbreak. But there was no crowd control as an official organizer of Halloween festivities was not specified. The crowd crush took place suddenly, in a narrow alleyway packed with heavy crowds. The chaos led to disaster. Despite the struggle of many firefighters, police officers, medical staff and citizens to rescue the dying young people by administering CPR, they could not save all of them.

Some blame the victims, saying “Why did they go there?” But the victims are not at fault. As similar disasters have happened at stadiums, religious events and concerts in other countries, it could happen to anyone, anywhere. But it should not have to happen to anyone.

A terrible sense of helplessness and bottomless despair engulfed the entire Korean society. We are witnessing another national disaster we never wanted to see again after the Sewol ferry tragedy in 2014. As the grief and pain Koreans expressed eight years ago come rushing back, routine lives are swept away.

The Itaewon disaster is still in progress. Many of the injured are still in critical condition. The trauma of the survivors, witnesses and bereaved families is just the beginning. This is why follow-up measures are desperately needed to support them. A thorough and rigorous investigation into the cause and the course of the disaster also must follow. So many lives should never perish mercilessly again.