The Osong accident was clearly a man-made disaster, but not a word from President Yoon

Shortly after President Yoon Suk-yeol returned from his trip to Eastern Europe on July 17, he visited areas damaged by the heavy downpour, but by July 23, he had still not visited the Second Gungpyong Underpass in Osong-eup, Cheongju-si in Chungcheongbuk-do, the site of a tragic accident. He did not extend his condolences, either. This drew criticism that he was trying to evade his responsibility as the president, when the tragic disaster at Osong was likely to have been man-made.

On the morning of July 17, when President Yoon Suk-yeol arrived in South Korea, he visited the area devastated by a landslide in Yecheon, Gyeongsangbuk-do. The next day, on July 18, he visited the farms and animal sheds damaged by the heavy downpour in Gongju-si, Chungcheongnam-do. But he did not visit the Second Gungpyeong Underpass in Osong, where fourteen people had died, the biggest number of deaths caused by the heavy rainfall.

To this day, the president has not given any public message on the Osong disaster. In his opening comment in a cabinet meeting on July 18, President Yoon mentioned his visit to Yecheon, Gyeongsangbuk-do and said, “I pray for the deceased and once again extend my condolences to the bereaved families and everyone who suffered damages.” The president also mourned the death of Private First Class Chae Su-geun, the Marine who died while searching for missing persons on July 20 and said, “We will treat the late Private Chae Su-geun (posthumously promoted to private first class) with full honors as a man of national merit.” Yet he did not mention the disaster in Osong.

This triggered criticism that the president was trying to evade his responsibility since the Osong disaster appeared to be a man-made disaster. In his opening remarks in Tuesday’s cabinet meeting, President Yoon mentioned the Yecheon landslide and said, “Natural disasters are showing extreme conditions due to climate change.” Based on an understanding that the landslide in Yecheon was a natural disaster, while the tragedy in Osong was man-made, the president appears to be avoiding any mention of Osong or any visit to Osong for fear that the public would hold him responsible.

However, some people argued that if the incident was man-made, President Yoon should visit the site all the more and express his sympathy for the victims. In a meeting to inspect the national safety system on November 7, 2022, President Yoon spoke about the Halloween crowd crush in Itaewon and said, “The president is the control tower for disasters, the control tower for safety.”

A key official in the Office of the President spoke with the reporter over the phone Sunday and said, “If President Yoon visits the site, he has to convey a clear message, but the situation has yet to be settled.”

Another official from the presidential office explained over the phone, “On the day the president returned (Jul. 17), there was serious concern about additional casualties because up to 300mm of more rain was forecast in Yecheon until Wednesday (Jul. 19) at the time.”

Some people argued that the Yoon Suk-yeol government was repeating its way of responding to disasters. They claimed that the government intentionally kept a distance when it came to man-made disasters. At the time of the Itaewon crowd crush, President Yoon voiced apologies, such as the mention of a “sorry heart” in his remark at a meeting on the nation’s safety system, but he did not make an official apology in the form of a statement addressed to the nation, which the victims’ families had wanted. There was a debate over the responsibility of Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min and the Police Commissioner General Yoon Hee-keun, but President Yoon stayed away from any mention of replacing the two men. He said, “Vaguely demanding them to be responsible for everything just isn’t acceptable in modern society.”

This led to criticism that the blame was put only on the working-level officials on the field, such as the chief of the Yongsan Police Station and the chief of the 112 situation room. In an interview on Kim Jong-bae’s Focus (MBC radio) on July 21, Im Yeong-ju, the mother of the late Jang Han-na, who died in the Itaewon crowd crush, said, “Not even a year has passed, but something like this has happened again. I feel it keeps repeating.” She argued, “The government’s ability to respond to issues requiring respect for the safety and lives of the citizens is deteriorating and that is the cause.”