Families of foreign victims getting equal gov't support

The government promised the same support to families of both local and foreign victims of the Itaewon Halloween tragedy, including two undocumented people.

A foreign national with a baby pays tribute to victims of the Halloween crowd crush at a memorial altar in Itaewon on Nov. 1. [YONHAP]

The government promised the same support to families of both local and foreign victims of the Itaewon Halloween tragedy, including two undocumented people.

More foreigners died in that incident than in any previous Korean catastrophe. Of the 156 victims so far, 26 were foreign nationals from 14 countries: five from Iran, four from China, four from Russia, two from Japan, two from the United States and one each from Australia, Austria, France, Kazakhstan, Norway, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

In 2007, a fire at the Immigration Detention Center in the southern city of Yeosu killed ten foreigners.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Thursday renewed the government's pledge to provide all necessary support to foreign victims.

“Most funeral procedures are being finalized, but the funerals of the foreign victims are expected to take some time,” Han said in a disaster response meeting Thursday.

He urged the foreign ministry and other government departments to make sure that nothing goes wrong when families of the foreign victims need support, including aid for funeral arrangements.

“Each country has a different funeral culture, and there are places where repatriation costs a lot of money,” the prime minister said. He called for customized support for each victim's family.

Of the 26 foreign victims, five bodies were repatriated from Korea as of 6 p.m. Thursday, such as to Japan, Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan. Two victims were buried in Korea according to the wishes of their families, a foreign ministry official told the Korea JoongAng Daily.

The bodies of the remaining 19 victims are awaiting repatriation.

The government promised families of the foreign victims 20 million won ($14,000) in compensation and another 15 million won for funeral expenses, identical to the amounts being given to Korean victims' families. Families of two undocumented immigrants, including one who died and one who was injured, will get the same support, including aid for funeral arrangements or for treatment.

The cost of staying in Korea for the foreign families will also be covered up to 70,000 won per night.

The families can apply for the financial support at Seoul’s Yongsan district office, where Itaewon is located.

The government is also offering legal support to all victims' families and the injured.

The Korea Legal Aid Corporation under the Ministry of Justice formed a legal support team for families of victims, including foreign nationals.

Lawyers will offer them free legal counseling.

“Police investigations are still underway to determine responsibility for the accident,” said Wi Seung-yong, head of the legal support team. “We will identify the legal issues in question through counseling and help find solutions.”

Currently, relatives coming from visa-free countries are exempted from the e-travel authorization system, K-ETA. For those coming from countries that require a visa for Korea, the Ministry of Justice is issuing short-term visas and waiving the fees.

BY SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]