안녕! It’s Ari, your talkative Korean friend and weekend reminder. Before starting, I send my deepest condolences to people who lost their loved ones to the recent Itaewon tragedy. And I hope the victims rest in peace 🙏
Today’s newsletter is about the tragic incident. I’ll talk about why it happened and the aftermath of the tragedy from a Korean’s perspective. Let’s start!
Sorry that there’s no podcast this week. I tried to record without crying but I couldn’t so I decided not to upload.
After Itaewon Tragedy
I’ve never felt this sad writing this newsletter. For those who don’t know what happened, 156 people were killed in a crush when a huge crowd celebrating Halloween surged into a narrow alley in Itaewon, a popular nightlife area of Seoul on Saturday night. I learned about the accident on Twitter at around 2 am, about 3 hours after the accident. I was so tired on Saturday that I slept very early. I even forgot to turn off the light before sleep. The light woke me up in the middle of the night. After turning off the light, I picked up my phone to read an alarming tweet. It said many people died in Itaewon and it’s probably the biggest disaster that has ever happened in the country. My heart immediately raced very fast. I checked the news. They said a few dozen people have died in a crush. I was so shocked that I couldn’t sleep. As I read more news for the next 2 hours in the dark, the number of death went up to over 100.
In the morning, I called and texted my friends who live in Seoul to check their safety. It turned out none of them went to Itaewon. Families, schools, and companies were busy checking the safety of their young children, students, and young employees. I saw one post online saying a teacher cried after finally reaching to a student of his/her class who didn’t answer the phone all day. It felt so 2014 all over again when 304 people died in Sewol ferry sinking disaster. The two disasters feel similar to me because, in both disasters, most of victims are young, teenagers and 20s, and they both could’ve never happened at all only if there were functioning police and government.
700 for 1 VS 0 for 130,000
There had been many huge-crowd events and festivals in the country. The biggest one would be street cheering events during 2002 World Cup. South Korea was the host at the time and its team made it to semi-final for the first and the last time 🙃 Millions of Koreans went out streets wearing a red shirt cheering the team. There was a time when over 8 million people gathered at Seoul Plaza. Even though the crowds were very excited and hyped up, there was zero stampede death. When over a million protesters filled Gwanghwamoon Square every weekend during the winter of 2016 ☝ demanding the then president’s impeachment, there was zero stampede death, again. Every year, from 100,000 to 200,000 people gather in Itaewon celebrating Halloween wearing fun or spooky costumes. Last year, during 3-day Halloween festival, over 170,000 people visited Itaewon and again there was no stampede accident. You can see so many police directing people at the alley where the victims died Saturday in the video recorded last year.
What made this year’s Halloween different from others? Unlike the past, like many witnesses say, there weren’t enough police force who manage the crowd. According to a report, over 100,000 crowd (turned out to be over 130,000) was expected on the day but there were only 32 police officers assigned for managing the crowd. (Update1118. It recently turned out that there were ZERO policemen assigned for managing the crowd. According to police officers, high-rank police officials only cared about the security of the president’s new office in Yongsan and it’s the reason why there were zero officers controlling the crowd.) So why were there so little police force? Itaewon is located in Yongsan district where there’s a new office of the current SK president. He’s refusing to live and work in the Blue House where all the past presidents had lived to stay his luxurious apartment in Seocho district. A report says, over 700 policemen are deployed every day and they are working overtime for his commute from Seocho to Yongsan and security at his apartment. This is why many Koreans are accusing the president of being the possible cause of the severe lack of police force that was badly needed in Itaewon on the day of the crush.
One thing to note is that the SK police is not independent from the government anymore. The police used to be independent, relatively free from politics, for the past 31 years. But it changed when the new administration created a police oversight bureau at the Ministry of Interior and Safety in July. It basically puts the entire police force under direct control of the government. It sparked severe criticism because it reminded Koreans of the country’s previous era of strongman rule when the administration used the police force to oppress people. Many worried about its aftermath at the time, but no one could imagine it would be this terrible. The SK police used to be called “people’s walking canes,” meaning it exists for Korean people, but now it’s clear that the canes are broken.
Status: No government
Koreans are mourning the loss of so many people and also the loss of a safe place to live. Thanks to the administration, living in this country doesn’t feel safe anymore. In this summer, a family of three was drowned in their semi-basement house because of heavy rain. And now 156 people died while just walking on the street in the capital city of the country. Many people say they now even feel scared to take a crowded subway in Seoul. A meme, 무정부상태 meaning “Status: No government” is trending online.
It won’t be easy for the country to recover. Recovering comes with punishing ones who are responsible for the disaster. However, it’s extremely hard to do especially when one of them is in the greatest power in the country and when they don’t even admit their responsibility. Koreans are getting more and more furious over their 6-month-old president. I won’t say “our.” I didn’t vote for him ㅠㅠ On October 22nd, over 300,000 crowd gathered shouting “Step down, President!” A protest demanding his resignation is held every weekend in Seoul. But this weekend, it’ll turn into a mourning rally for the victims. Koreans will probably have to spend this winter on streets trying to correct their terrible mistake of electing the worst leader. I hope we can punish ones who are responsible for the absolutely avoidable disaster and bring back a functioning government, leader, and eventually a safe country to live we used to have.
Once again, I send my deepest condolences to people who lost their loved ones. 이태원 참사 희생자들의 명복을 빕니다. (May the victims of Itaewon disaster rest in peace.)
🙏 No food recommendation and Korean lesson today. Instead, let me share a meal an Itaewon local restaurant owner prepared for the victims 👇 He opened his restaurant to help injured people on the day of the accident and saved many lives. The owner prepared a meal of rice, soup, and fruit on a tray and put it on the alley where the victims died. It’s a Korean ritual of preparing food for the deceased. We prepare food that the deceased liked when they were alive or just an ordinary Korean meal often with soju believing their souls will come to eat. It’s a way of remembering the missed ones. When police officers tried to put the tray away, he resisted saying, “Please don’t touch it. Let the kids (victims) eat the meal.” After some arguing, the restaurant owner and the police cried together patting their shoulders.
Thanks for reading :D I haven’t been sleeping well since the accident. I heard a big tragedy can affect anyone who read or watch the news. If you’re heartbroken like me for the accident or just anything else, I hope you feel better soon. We’ll get through this 💪 Take care! Have a great weekend. See you next week, 안녕!
Thoughts and prayers with you, Ari.
🌹♥️