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Family of those who died in the crowd crush in Itaewon on Halloween weekend in 2022, lay flowers at a memorial on the “Oct. 29 Memorial Alley” on Oct. 29, 2023. (pool photo) Caption 2-2: A mass public memorial rally for victims of the Itaewon crowd crush fills Seoul Plaza on Oct. 29, the one-year anniversary of the tragedy. (pool photo)

“I’m sorry that it’s the first time in a year that I’ve come to see you. Let’s dance together, like the old times, when we meet again.”

Song Han-bin, 29, and Song Ye-bin, 26, laid bouquets of flowers at the memorial set up in front of Itaewon Station’s Exit 1 on Sunday. They were college friends of the late Choi Soo-bin, who passed away in the Itaewon crowd crush a year ago when she was only 22 years old. Choi, who had studied dance, was just three weeks away from her graduation recital when the unthinkable happened.

“I’ve been to the memorial at City Hall, but this is the first time I’ve visited the place where it happened,” said Song Han-bin, who had been preparing with Choi for her graduation recital. “The alley is so narrow and cold, I can’t help but imagine how much colder it must have been that night. My heart aches to think about how she must’ve lost consciousness while being subject to so much pain. I asked the florist for the prettiest bouquet of memorial flowers they could make; I hope they make her happy.”

On Sunday, the one-year anniversary of the crowd crush in Seoul’s Itaewon neighborhood that left 159 dead, a steady stream of people visited the site of the tragedy to pay their respects. At the mouth of the alley next to Hamilton Hotel, many flowers, bottles of alcohol, and snacks had been left by mourners.

A mass public memorial rally for victims of the Itaewon crowd crush fills Seoul Plaza on Oct. 29, the one-year anniversary of the tragedy. (pool photo)

Among such snacks was tanghulu, a candy-coated fruit snack that has taken South Korea by storm in recent months. One mourner wrote a message on the memorial wall that said, “Tanghulu wasn’t popular last year, but now it’s everywhere. Even though time has passed, nothing has changed. We’ll make sure to bear witness to the current situation and act to make change.”

Many people visited the memorial with their children.

“My child was born in the year of the Sewol ferry disaster and turned 10 this year. We came to the memorial together so that I could explain what this tragedy means,” shared Kang So-yeong, 42. “My kid keeps asking what the president has to do with all of this, and my answer has been that it’s because the country and the social system should’ve taken responsibility for what happened, but they haven’t.”

Shin Hyeon-ae, 42, who came with her two children, remarked, “I explained to my children that we must mourn when a tragedy like this happens, and that they should raise their voices so as to prevent things like this from happening again.”

In the narrow Itaewon alley, some devastated friends and family who lost loved ones in the disaster could barely contain their grief. “It’s been a year, but what has changed?” one family member sobbed. “This is preposterous.”

As people continued to pay their respects, a multi-faith prayer service by the country’s four major religions was held on a nearby street, organized by the association of bereaved family members and associated citizen action group.

The bereaved families and religious figures who filled the two-lane road honored the souls of the deceased and together demanded that those responsible be punished and the truth of what happened be brought to light through an investigation.

Wearing purple windbreakers, the color symbolizing the Itaewon tragedy, the bereaved families sobbed and shouted, “Enact a special law for the Itaewon tragedy!” and “Fact-find and take measures to prevent recurrence!”

Chants demanding an apology from President Yoon Suk-yeol and the resignation of Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min also rang out from the crowd.

After praying and paying tribute at the site of the tragedy, the bereaved families and other members of the public marched past the presidential office in Yongsan and arrived at Seoul Plaza to hold a memorial service at 5 pm.

The memorial procession stretched for more than 200 meters to the joint memorial nearby. Organizers estimated that more than 17,000 people participated in the vigil.

“Yoon refused to come to the memorial because he claimed that it was political, but then went to a memorial service for Park Chung-hee,” said Lee Yeon-ju, 28, who came from Incheon to participate in the memorial service. “The state still seems unwilling to face the tragedy and take full responsibility. I’m worried about who will take responsibility if a tragedy like this happens again.”

Participants in a public memorial rally for victims of the Itaewon crowd crush at Seoul Plaza on Oct. 29 listen as Lee Jeong-min, the president of the 10.29 Itaewon Distater Bereaved Families association, speaks. (Kim Bong-kyu/The Hankyoreh)

Many lawmakers from the opposition attended the memorial service to offer their condolences. From the Democratic Party, party leadership including Lee Jae-myung and Hong Ihk-pyo, as well as many other lawmakers, made appearances, while other opposition party leaders such as Justice Party leader Lee Jeong-mi, Basic Income Party leader Yong Hye-in, and Progressive Party leader Yun Hee-suk joined the occasion.

Yoon attended a memorial service held at Youngahm Presbyterian Church in the Seongbuk District of Seoul on Sunday morning instead of coming to the memorial rally, which he called a “political event” organized by the opposition.

From the People Power Party, Secretary General Lee Man-hee, policy committee chair Yu Eui-dong, Supreme Council members Kim Byung-min and Kim Ye-ji, innovation committee chair John Linton, former party leader Lee Jun-seok, and former lawmaker Yoo Seong-min attended in an individual capacity.

Family and friends of those lost in last year’s Itaewon crowd crush disaster and other members of the public march from the site of the tragedy in Itaewon to Seoul Plaza for their memorial rally on Oct. 29, 2023. (Baek So-ah/The Hankyoreh)

While giving an opening speech, Lee Jeong-min, the 10.29 Itaewon Disaster Bereaved Families head of operations, remarked, “Following the tragedy, bereaved family members never once took political action. We simply expressed our sense of injustice,” adding, “We want to ask [the president] whether he perhaps thinks the government is not liable.”

Opposition leaders who gave memorial addresses criticized the ruling camp in unison. “The state has not been with the victims and bereaved families neither during the disaster nor now,” said Lee Jae-myung. “Such lack of remorse and irresponsible attitude bore other tragedies like the Osong disaster and the death of a marine,” Lee said, referring to two incidents that ended in death during torrential rains and flooding in July.

Yun stated, “If [the president] did not come here because the event was organized by the opposition, why couldn’t the ruling camp organize it?” adding, “Yoon is the one politicizing the disaster.”

Lee Jeong-mi promised to carry out the legislation of a special law concerning the disaster.

Tears erupted from the audience when bereaved family members including Lim Hyeon-ju, mother of the later Kim Eui-jin, and Ahn Ha-kyeong, sister of the late Ahn Min-hyeong, read aloud letters they wrote to the victims.

By Shim Wu-sam, staff reporter; Ko Byung-chan, staff reporter; Shin Hyeong-cheol, staff reporter

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