National assembly passes special act to investigate Itaewon tragedy

Survivors of the Itaewon tragedy show mixed emotions after the passage of the \'10-29 Itaewon Tragedy Victims\' Rights Guarantee, Truth and Prevention of Recurrence Act\' (Itaewon Tragedy Special Act) at the National Assembly plenary chamber on Monday. Lawmakers from the People\'s Power Party left before the vote. Moon Jae Won

The National Assembly on January 9 passed a special act to investigate the crowd crush that killed 159 people in Itaewon, Seoul in 2022. It was 437 days after the tragedy and 264 days after the special act was proposed. If President Yoon Suk-yeol promulgates the law without exercising his right of veto, it will pave the way to find out the truth of the tragedy and punish those responsible. The bereaved families said, "Yoon should immediately promulgate the law instead of exercising his right of veto."

The National Assembly passed the Act on Uncovering the Truth, Preventing Recurrence, and Protecting the Rights of Victims in the Itaewon Tragedy during a plenary session with 177 votes in favor out of 177 members present. Opposition parties, such as the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and the Justice Party, attended the vote, while the ruling People's Power Party (PPP) was absent.

The special act aims to clearly identify the cause of the tragedy, memorialize the victims, and support their recovery. The law establishes a special investigation committee to conduct an independent investigation and a damage relief review committee under the Prime Minister to provide relief and support to victims. The state and local governments are to provide comprehensive support to victims in their daily lives, including payment of medical expenses and psychological support.

The special investigation committee may provide a special report to the President, and request corrective and disciplinary measures against responsible state agencies through a comprehensive report. State agencies are required to implement the recommendations unless there is a compelling reason not to do so.

The special law, which was previously proposed by opposition parties, including the DPK, in April last year, was designated as a fast-track agenda on June 30 and submitted to the plenary session on November 29.

As negotiations between the ruling and opposition parties ran parallel, National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo proposed a mediation bill on December 21 last year. The special bill passed on Tuesday largely accepted Kim's mediation, removing the right to request an independent counsel investigation from the original bill and changing the enforcement date of the law to the general election date in April.

Park Joo-min, senior vice floor leader of the DPK, said at the plenary session, "It is with a heavy heart that we submit the amendment, that has retreated from the original bill," adding, "I hope you understand that the DPK has submitted the amendment with excruciating pain to minimize the risk of President Yoon exercising his veto."

After missing the vote, the PPP held a rally at the National Assembly to denounce the political use of tragedies and refusal to vote on the Special Prosecution Act. PPP’s floor leader Yun Jae-ok said, "The special law on the crowd crash in Itaewon was handled alone at the plenary session even though the ruling and opposition parties were in talks to deal with the agreement."

A task force, which consists of bereaved families of the tragedy, said in a statement shortly after the passage of the special law, "The significance of this is not small in that it is the first step to find out the truth. We express our deep regret that the ruling party refused to vote on the special law and turned a blind eye to its role as a public party.” It also added, "President Yoon should immediately promulgate the law instead of exercising his right to veto the special law."

The presidential office issued a statement, saying, "We lament the fact that the special law was once again unilaterally enforced without an agreement between the ruling and opposition parties." It added, "Once the bill is transferred to the government, we will make our stance clear by combining the opinions of the party and related ministries."

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.