President Yoon, “We Will Hold Accountable the People Responsible for the Tragic Incident According to the Investigation Result”

President Yoon Suk-yeol makes an opening comment in a meeting to inspect the national safety system and check the disaster safety management system and discuss improvements to the policy at the Office of the President in Yongsan on the morning of November 7. Office of the President press photographers

On November 7, President Yoon Suk-yeol spoke about the Halloween crowd crush in Itaewon that occurred on October 29 and said, “According to the results (of the investigation), we will strictly hold accountable the people who were responsible.”

This morning, the president presided over a meeting to inspect the national safety system in the Office of the President in Yongsan and said, “We will make sure that the investigation into the latest tragic event will be conducted thoroughly. We will disclose the process to the citizens transparently, not leaving a speck of suspicion.”

In his opening comment in the meeting, President Yoon said, “As the president responsible for protecting the lives and safety of the people, my heart is sad and heavy.” He continued and said, “I apologize to the people who sympathize with the pain and grief of the victims’ families facing the tragedy, which cannot be described in words.” President Yoon attended a Buddhist memorial service at Jogyesa Temple in Seoul on November 4 and a Protestant church service at the Baekseok University Seoul campus in Bangbae-dong, Seoul on November 5 and apologized to the citizens. On November 6, he attended a Catholic mass in memory of the victims at Myeongdong Cathedral in Seoul.

In the meeting on Monday, the president said they would mainly discuss crowd management and an emergency rescue system. President Yoon said, “A large crowd is a typical danger that we can come across in everyday life,” and explained, “The most basic of basics in crowd management to prevent accidents is lowering the crowd density by expanding the space people can occupy and securing a larger space for passage, which can be done by blocking vehicle lanes.” President Yoon stressed the need for a safety management system and said, “To effectively respond to various hazards, we need to conduct a general review of our policies on the authority and responsibility over safety management and on a swift reporting system.”

The president also said, “We must pour all our capacity into creating a safe Republic of Korea so as to prevent another tragic event, not to mention handle the latest incident in a responsible manner.” The president also said that there would be future meetings to inspect industrial accidents and natural disasters as well as the latest incident.