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Families of those who were killed in the Oct. 29, 2022, Itaewon crowd crush break down into tears during a rally outside the central government complex in Seoul on Jan. 30 upon news breaking that the Cabinet had recommended that the president exercise his veto on a bill that would have mandated a special investigation into the disaster that killed 159. (Kim Jung-hyo/The Hankyoreh)

“Kill us too. Veto us too. You call yourself our president?”

As news spread Tuesday morning that the South Korean Cabinet had passed a motion recommending that President Yoon Suk-yeol exercise his veto on a special bill in response to the October 2022 crowd crush tragedy in Itaewon, family and friends of those killed in the crush who had been rallying outside the government building where the meeting was held in Seoul cried out and dashed toward its entrance.

Gripping the bars of the firmly closed gate, some of them sank to the ground and wailed, “Kill us.” Their anguished cries were directed at an administration and ruling party that had dashed the one hope they had clung to for the 459 days since the tragedy occurred: the wish for a no-stones-unturned investigation of the disaster.

“For a year, we’ve been praying and appealing and begging. This is a heartless administration,” said Lee Jeong-min, the 62-year-old chairperson of the group 10.29 Itaewon Disaster Bereaved Families and father of crowd crush victim Lee Ju-yeong.

“What this administration did is killing the surviving family members all over again,” he continued. “They should just send us to our deaths just like our children.”

As it became increasingly clear that Yoon intended to exercise his reconsideration request authority — a de facto veto — for the Itaewon tragedy special act that day, family members who had been calling for its passage could not hide their dismay.

Families of those who were killed in the Oct. 29, 2022, Itaewon crowd crush break down into tears during a rally outside the central government complex in Seoul on Jan. 30 upon news breaking that the Cabinet had recommended that the president exercise his veto on a bill that would have mandated a special investigation into the disaster that killed 159. (Yonhap)

The shock appeared all the greater after the desperate efforts they had made — including head-shaving, ritualistic walking with bows, and prostrations — in the hopes that the law would not end up abandoned after it narrowly passed the National Assembly threshold on Jan. 9, some 264 days after it was first proposed.

After hearing that Yoon had sent the bill back to parliament, one family member flung down and smashed a sign they had been holding, which read, “President Yoon, immediately enact the Itaewon tragedy special act.”

Previously, family members had made a last bid with a filibuster outside the building where the Cabinet meeting was being held in Seoul, stressing that it was “not over until it’s over.”

“They’re calling the Itaewon tragedy special act ‘partisan,’” said Kim Nam-hee, 50, whose 25-year-old daughter Shin Ae-jin died in the disaster. “Who are the ones who are making this partisan and trying to appease the public with talk of compensation? It’s the People Power Party and administration.”

“How can it be ‘partisan’ for parents to want to know the reason why their children died?” she asked. “All the family members want is an investigation by an independent body. We reject President Yoon Suk-yeol’s veto.”

Caption 1-1: Families of those who were killed in the Oct. 29, 2022, Itaewon crowd crush break down into tears during a rally outside the central government complex in Seoul on Jan. 30 upon news breaking that the Cabinet had recommended that the president exercise his veto on a bill that would have mandated a special investigation into the disaster that killed 159. The sign being held reads: “We reject the rejection of the Itaewon disaster special act!” (Kim Jung-hyo/The Hankyoreh)

In a position statement that day, 10.29 Itaewon Disaster Bereaved Families said, “President Yoon, administration officials, and People Power Party lawmakers have committed a crime that will go down in history with their irresponsible and foolish decision.”

“We have missed another opportunity to move toward being a safer society, and we have not made a single step’s worth of progress away from the threat of disaster,” it continued.

“The president’s abuse of veto powers, without even minimal justification or basis, will not escape the public’s judgment,” it asserted.

By Shim Wu-sam, staff reporter

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