South Korea demands justice for the Itaewon incident
As public anger continues to build over the biggest tragedy in South Korea in nearly a decade, thousands turned up for several vigils and protests held across the capital.
On 29 October, a deadly crowd crush killed 156 people – primarily young people - and injured another 196 during Halloween festivities in the nightlife district of Itaewon.
One week on, the authorities launched an investigation, raiding municipal offices and local police and fire stations.
The national police chief has apologised, as has President Yoon Suk-yeol, who has vowed to improve crowd control measures in the future.
But it has not been enough to slake the public thirst for justice—an irony for a country known for its youthful, K-pop-driven image on the international stage.
On Saturday, activist and political groups rode on that wave of anger with at least seven vigil protests across the capital.
The biggest one was organised by Candlelight Action, an alliance of progressive groups holding regular political protests against President Yoon even before the Itaewon tragedy.
It was held near City Hall, which saw two lanes of a major road blocked off to accommodate tens of thousands of protesters. Many carried black protest signs that said "Stepping down is an expression of condolence" - a pointed message for President Yoon.
Onstage, speakers took turns to rail against the government in speeches interspersed with mournful song performances and prayers recited by Buddhist monks.
"Although the government has responsibility, it is looking for perpetrators from irrelevant organisations… the incident occurred because the government did not play its very basic role," said one speaker.
"Step down, Yoon Suk-yeol's government! Step down, Yoon Suk-yeol's government!" the crowd chanted, waving their candles and placards.
They held white chrysanthemums - the flower of grief in Korean culture - and black placards reading: "We could have saved the victims, and the government should recognise their responsibility."
"I felt sad at first. But now I'm angry. I'm here because this incident could have been prevented. Those people were close to my age," said 22-year-old university student Kang Hee-Joo.
At their final stop, a war memorial, youth activists took turns delivering speeches.
"This society is not normal; we are not safe. The government is not fulfilling its responsibility; it has pushed it to the youth… what kind of lesson did we learn from the Sewol incident?" said one speaker, referencing the 2014 ferry disaster that killed more than 300 people, primarily high school students.
"They always promise change with every election. But why is there always a social disaster? This is what the young people are questioning.
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