The Chief of Yongsan-gu Passed by the Site Two Hours Before the Crowd Crush, But Left Without Doing Anything

Park Hee-young, the district mayor of Yongsan-gu, offers flowers at the joint memorial center for the victims of the Itaewon tragedy set up in front of Noksapyeong Station in Yongsan-gu, Seoul on the morning of October 31. Joint press photographers

The whereabouts of Park Hee-young, the district mayor of Yongsan-gu, on the day of the Halloween crowd crush in Itaewon is stirring controversy. Park passed by the place where the tragic incident occurred two hours before the stampede but failed to take any action. It was also revealed that the tragic site was near her residence. At the time of the incident, Park was on her way home after taking part in a festival in Uiryeong-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do, her hometown.

According to the explanation by the Yongsan-gu Office on November 4, the chief of Yongsan-gu visited Uiryeong-gun, her hometown and also a sister city with Yongsan-gu, on October 29. A large crowd was expected to gather this day, the day of the fatal crowd crush, so the Yongsan-gu Council designated it as a period to promote emergency measures (Oct. 27-31). A Yongsan-gu official said, “From what I know, Park received an invitation from Uiryeong-gun.”

After returning to Yongsan-gu, Park passed by Quy Nhon-gil (road) near the site of the tragic incident, but failed to take any action, which has also been the cause of a heated debate. Park returned to Seoul around 8 p.m., which was when the police began receiving multiple calls from citizens worried about a possible crowd crush. Quy Nhon-gil is a small road located behind the row of stores across from the Hamilton Hotel. It is only 100 meters away from the alley where the tragic incident occurred. Reportedly, Park’s residence is near Quy Nhon-gil.

Park seems to have been concerned about the crowd on Itaewon-ro at the time. After taking a look around Quy Nhon-gil, she wrote, “A large crowd is gathering, and I’m worried. I’ll keep an eye on it,” in a Telegram chatroom with people including Kwon Young-se, minister of unification. But Park did not make any request to relevant agencies. Kwon was a former representative of Yongsan-gu in the National Assembly, and Park once served as Kwon’s policy advisor.

On October 31, shortly after the disaster, Park said to the press, “We had made all strategic preparations and the gu office did everything it could.” She further said, “This is not a festival (since there is no organizer of Halloween Day). We have to look at it as a kind of phenomenon where people gather on Halloween Day,” stirring controversy. When she came under fire from the public for evading responsibility, she gave an official apology saying, “I am very sorry for the tragic accident that occurred in our jurisdiction,” on November 1.

When news of the district mayor’s actions and words were disclosed, people bombarded the Yongsan-gu office website with posts calling for Park to step down.

According to the gu office, Park was first aware of the situation at 10:53 p.m. October 29. She arrived at the scene six minutes later at 10:59 p.m.