Yoon Suk-yeol “An accident while enjoying nightlife”··· At the first meeting on the Itaewon disaster, the terminology was changed first, from ‘disaster→accident’ - 경향신문

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Yoo Jae-hyung, Head of Investigation Division 2 of the 10.29 Itaewon Disaster Special Investigation Committee, and Park Yong-deok, Team Leader of Investigation Division 2, hold a press briefing in the Committee’s conference room on the 28th. Kim Eun-Song, Reporter

It has been confirmed that at the first meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (CDSCH) held on October 30, 2022, the day after the Itaewon disaster occurred, the Yoon Suk-yeol administration changed the official term from “disaster” to “accident,” saying that “state responsibility could become an issue.” There was also testimony that former President Yoon, who presided over the meeting, said to the effect of, “Is it right to call it a disaster when it was an accident that happened to people who went out to enjoy nightlife and festivals?” Critics say the administration was preoccupied with evading responsibility from the very beginning of the disaster.

The Special Investigation Committee for Fact-Finding and Prevention of Recurrence of the 10.29 Itaewon Disaster announced these findings after holding its 63rd plenary session at the Committee’s conference room in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the 28th.

According to the Committee, it visited the Ministry of the Interior and Safety on the 7th8th, reviewed the CDSCH minutes from the time, and conducted reference interviews with senior officials of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Ministry of Health and Welfare who had attended the meeting. Allegations had been raised in the National Assembly and elsewhere that the Yoon administration changed the terminology from ‘disaster’ to ‘accident’ to avoid responsibility. Through official documents, this allegation has now been confirmed as fact for the first time.

According to the Committee, until just before the first CDSCH meeting was held, the government itself used the expressions ‘disaster’ and ‘accident’ interchangeably. Many media outlets defined it as a ‘disaster’ from the first day. In response, discussion on changing the terminology took place at the first CDSCH meeting, the Committee explained.

The minutes show that Lee Sang-min, former Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, said, “Given the characteristics of this accident, which has no perpetrator, we need to refer to the victims and the deceased as the dead and the casualties.” Kim Eui-seung, then Seoul’s First Vice Mayor for Administrative Affairs, said, “Considering that the cause of the accident is under investigation, I propose changing the term to the Itaewon accident until the cause is clearly identified.”

The issue of state responsibility was cited as the reason for the change. According to statements by attendees and observers, before former President Yoon joined the meeting, former Minister Lee proposed to former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, “If we use terms like ‘disaster’ or ‘victims,’ state responsibility could become an issue later, so it would be better to change the wording.” Former Prime Minister Han accepted, saying, “That’s a good idea.”

The Committee’s view is that former President Yoon gave the final approval. According to an attendee’s account, Yoon asked in effect, “This was an accident caused by a crowd of people who went to Itaewon to enjoy nightlife or a festivalare terms like ‘disaster’ appropriate?” Accordingly, the government’s official terminology was unified to ‘accident’ and ‘the dead,’ instead of ‘disaster’ and ‘victims (the deceased).’ The Committee also secured testimony from Cho Kyu-hong, then Minister of Health and Welfare, that former President Yoon said to the effect, “The cause of the accident has not yet been identified, and it is appropriate to use legal terms.”

The remarks by former Minister Lee about ‘state responsibility,’ and the remarks by former Prime Minister Han and former President Yoon, were not recorded in the CDSCH minutes. The Committee said, “Participants testified that because it was unusual for a terminology change to be handled as a key agenda item amid an emergency disaster response, they remember the main remarks at the time.” The Committee also understands that the terminology change was the only item on which discussion took place at the meeting.

The decision to call it an accident rather than a disaster was conveyed the same day to central government ministries and local governments. At a nationwide video conference of local governments chaired by the Director General of the National Disaster and Safety Management Headquarters of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety on the same day, the terminology change was specially emphasized as a ‘directive from the Minister of the Interior and Safety,’ according to participants at the time.

A Committee official said, “The terminology change was the Yoon Suk-yeol administration’s decision, after the disaster, on how to refer to the Itaewon disaster in official documents and press briefings,” adding, “This is an important indication of how the administration perceived the disaster in its early days.” The official said, “This investigation has revealed the state’s evasion of responsibility.”

The Committee said it plans to conduct additional inquiries regarding the remarks by former President Yoon and former Prime Minister Han concerning the terminology change. It will also investigate why the CDSCH minutes were not registered as an official document of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, and why the Ministry did not comply with the Committee’s request last October to submit related materials. The Committee is also reviewing whether former Minister Lee’s statements regarding the terminology changemade at the Committee’s hearing and during the National Assembly’s parliamentary probecould be punishable as perjury.