A deal has finally been reached on the Yongsan tragedy that took place exactly 345 days ago. Ever since tragic incident took place in the fierce winter cold of January, we have seen the flowers of spring and summer and the falling leaves of autumn come and go, and the arrival of a new winter. In that time, rivers have formed from the anguished tears of the bereaved family members, and mountains from their laments and heavy sighs. Still, it is fortunate that the efforts of religious groups and other sectors of society were not all in vain, and that the tragedy saw a resolution before the passing of the year. Most of all, it is a tremendous relief that the poor souls of the departed, who have thus far been denied a proper funeral, are finally going to be laid to rest.

However, too many months have gone by for us to merely rejoice at the deal. The Yongsan tragedy was an incident that forced us to reflect once purpose of the government and on whether even minimal justice or good sense exists in our society at this time. At its heart, this tragedy took place due to a reckless and ill-prepared operation by the police to suppress evictees and drive them from the site of their livelihoods due to redevelopment plans. It would have been appropriate for the Lee administration to take the occasion to reflect deeply on the abuse of public authority that took place and to promise that such a thing will not happen again. If the ruling government had understood this and shown the slightest bit of sincerity to the family members who lost their loved ones, this tragedy would have long ago come to a resolution. Instead, the government persisted in a heartless approach of utter disinterest. All responsibility for the incident was place on the protestors, while figures in the highest position of responsibility in the police at the time of the tragedy enjoyed a glorious appointment as a senior official with a government organization.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Chung Un-chan said that he felt “responsibility as the Prime Minister for the occurrence of this unfortunate incident” and expressed yugamor his “profound dismay” to the bereaved family members. In a sense, this represented an acquiescence of a sort to the family members’ initial demands for a government apology. At the time of the incident, then-Prime Minister Han Seung-soo had said, “illegal acts of violence cannot be tolerated under any circumstances.” In light of this, Chung’s statement was a major step forward from this aggressive position, however, as shown with the use of the lukewarm term yugam, there is no sign of a sincere, heartfelt apology or contrition on the part of the government. The chain of abuse of public authority appears unlikely to be broken as long as the government adheres to a position of refusing to make a frank acknowledgement of its responsibility.

The date for the funeral for the victims of the Yongsan tragedy may be settled, as may the issue of compensation, but the incident does not end here. Rather, this is just the beginning. Investigating the truth surrounding the incident remains as an outstanding issue. Prosecutors are still refusing to disclose some 3,000 of their more than 10,000 pages of investigation records, and have gone so far as to refuse a court order. The final page cannot be turned on the Yongsan tragedy as long as this absurd situation is allowed to persist. Moreover, revisions to relevant policies and changes in our system are long overdue in order to prevent a second and third Yongsan from occurring. This powder keg surrounding redevelopment issues affects every corner of the country. We urge the government to change its thinking and make an effort to address these problems further.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]