JAKARTA - Family members of the victims of the Halloween celebration tragedy in Itaewon on October 29, demanded an official apology from the government on Tuesday, accusing him of failing to prevent the tragedy from occurring.
In a press conference held in southern Seoul, the parents of six victims urged the government to respond to their request. It was published in a six-point proposal made by the victim's parents.
That includes, the family is asking for a sincere apology from the government, a thorough investigation into the tragedy, steps to allow victims or their families to participate in ongoing investigations, provide assistance to victims, and establish memorials and measures to protect the deceased from criticism.
This is the first time the family of a crowd that killed 158 people in Itaewon, Seoul on the weekend of Halloween, have gathered and held a press conference demanding an apology from the government.
The parents of the victims cry, when they say who their children are and what they thought was wrong that night.
The mother of one of the Austrian victims said the toughest thing she had to bear after losing her son was the fact that no one was responsible for the tragedy.
"The hardest part is that political leaders don't admit what they did wrong. It really hurts me," he said, quoted by the Korea Times on November 23.
His son is a student at the Yonsei University Korean Language Institute. According to him, he came to his mother's country to find the roots.
The victim's mother said she wanted to do what she could for the victim's foreign national.
"The Korean government owes me an apology. I have to get it, but I have to go back to Austria on November 28. I will fight in Vienna to make it happen," he said.
As he continued his words shaking, the small hall where the press conference was held was filled with sobs of grieving family members. Each family member holds a photo of their children in their hands.
One of the family members, who couldn't stop crying at the press conference, had to be assisted by someone else when leaving the hall. He shouted, "Please take us instead, and return our children!"
The press conference was organized by non-profit advocacy groups, Lawyers for a Democratic Society or "Minbyun." Three lawyers affiliated with Minbyun and the parents of six victims attended the event.
Shortly after Itaewon's Halloween tragedy, Minbyun formed a task force to help bereaved families.
Oh Min-ae, a lawyer and coordinator of the Minbyun task force team, said she and other team members met the families of victims of the Itaewon tragedy twice, holding a press conference to give them the opportunity to deliver their requests to the public.
The father of another victim became emotional when he read the letter he wrote to his 26-year-old daughter, who died in a mob crush.
"Goodbye, my daughter. I can't believe you are no longer here. My heart is filled with tremendous pain because I can't save you from that tragedy," he whispered.
He explained that he wrote the letter to his only daughter and read it out loud there, hoping he would hear it in the afterlife.
He criticized the government for allowing mass destruction to occur.
"I would like to call on the government here on behalf of my daughter. The government has arrested the former defense minister and is trying to investigate the former president, over the failure of past governments to protect South Korean citizens," he said.
He referred to a former fisheries ministry official who went missing in the West Sea while on duty and was killed by North Korean soldiers hours later.
"(As the father of the victims of the Itaewon tragedy) I would like to ask the government a question. Where is the country when the safety of its citizens is threatened and they are killed? What does it do when citizens are dying? Now I demand the government to answer my questions," he said.
Meanwhile, the victim's other father said the crowd was tantamount to "unqualified killings".
"From top to bottom, the October 29 Itaewon tragedy was an negligent assassination driven by a lack of awareness of safety. There was a request for help starting at 18:34, nearly four hours before the incident occurred, but the police ignored it," he said.
Minbyun represents the family of 34 victims of the Itaewon tragedy. Lawyers said they would consult with their clients, before announcing what legal action they would take.
When asked for comment at the request of the family, the presidential office said financial compensation for the victims would be made earlier than expected. But that did not mention anything about President Yoon Suk-yeol's official apology for the tragedy.
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