President Lee offers government apology to victims of major disasters and their families

President Lee Jae Myung formally apologized on behalf of the government in a meeting with family members of victims of recent major disasters, including the Sewol ferry sinking, Itaewon crowd crush and Jeju Air crash.

President Lee Jae Myung, center, bows his head to some 200 bereaved family members of victims of the Sewol ferry sinking, Itaewon crowd crush, Jeju Air crash and Osong underpass flooding at an event held at the Blue House in central Seoul on July 16. He offered a formal apology on behalf of the government and promised to work with them to prevent such tragedies in the future. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

President Lee Jae Myung on Wednesday formally apologized on behalf of the government for its failure to protect the lives of victims of recent major disasters, including the Sewol ferry sinking, the Itaewon crowd crush and the Jeju Air crash, during a meeting with some 200 bereaved family members.

"The top responsibility of the country is to protect the lives and safety of its people," Lee said at the Blue House compound in central Seoul. "But the government was absent when they were threatened or needed protection."

The event entitled "A dialogue for memory, consolation and healing" was attended by bereaved families of the victims of the Sewol, Itaewon, Osong and Muan incidents, along with lawmakers recommended by victim support groups, and local and central government officials.

"As the highest official responsible for state affairs, I would like to formally apologize on behalf of the government for failing to fulfill its responsibility to protect the lives and safety of the people, and for the many victims who lost their lives," Lee said, bowing his head.

Lee noted that as society "wrongfully prioritizes money over life and costs over safety, people who didn't need to die ended up dying, and people who didn't need to be hurt ended up being hurt."

The presidential office said that while government apologies have been made for the Sewol sinking in 2017 by then President Moon Jae-in and the Jeju Air Crash by then acting President Choi Sang-mok, this marks the first time that the government has made an official apology for the Itaewon and Osong underpass disasters.

The tragic sinking of the Sewol ferry on April 16, 2014, led to 304 deaths, including the deaths of 250 students from Danwon High School in Ansan, Gyeonggi, who were on a school trip.

The Itaewon crowd crush of Oct. 29, 2022, led to the loss of 159 lives and highlighted the botched responses that occurred at multiple levels, raising questions on why proper safety measures were not in place.

In the flooding disaster of Osong, Cheongju, 14 people were killed in an underpass after a river overflowed following torrential rain on July 15, 2023.

The Jeju Air plane that crashed while landing at Muan International Airport on Dec. 29 last year killed 179 people.

President Lee Jae Myung, center, listens to a statement by a representative of bereaved families of the Jeju Air crash of Dec. 29, 2024, at a meeting with some 200 family members and victims of major disasters at the Blue House in central Seoul on July 16. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Lee acknowledged that "no words of apology can bring back those who have passed, and no expression of regret can erase the deep pain and scars in the hearts of the bereaved families." But he hoped that official apology could "mark a turning point so that the people's lives would never again be lost or harmed due to an absence or failure of government."

He also noted that some might believe that the truths behind the disasters have not been fully uncovered, while others might feel that there hasn't been sufficient compensation, accountability, apology or consolation.

The president said that he will "carefully review" the attendees' recommendations and promised to work together with the victims' families "within the scope of available means" to take the "necessary steps to ensure that no more innocent lives are lost due to the absence of the state."

The meeting was an opportunity for representatives of associations for the families and victims of the disasters to present their concerns and requests to the government.

The two-hour event was also an opportunity to show the new government's intentions to "take full responsibility for the pain of all its people," according to a statement from the presidential office.

Among the Sewol disaster victims was a bereaved father who had handed a note to Lee, then a presidential candidate, at the 11th anniversary memorial of the tragedy in Ansan in April, asking him to never forget the sinking of the ferry.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]