S. Koreans ashamed over safety failures in Halloween tragedy
The Halloween party crush in Seoul's Itaewon entertainment district has caused an outpouring of public sympathy in South Korea toward the 150 dead, mostly in their 20s and 30s
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — When Kim Kap Soo watched live broadcasts of the harrowing Halloween party crush that killed more than 150 people in Seoul last weekend, there was shock and sadness — but also the embarrassed realization that this wasn't the first time he'd seen South Korea suffer a devastating disaster as a result of official incompetence and safety failures.
“My heart is aching very much. We are among the world’s 10 largest economies, and I totally don’t understand how this can happen in our nation,” said Kim, 73, a retired environmental engineering researcher. “Our public insensitivity to safety is too severe. We should always be careful about everything, but we don’t do so, and I think that’s the biggest problem.”
The crowd crush Saturday in Itaewon, a popular nightlife district, has caused an outpouring of public sympathy toward the dead, mostly in their 20s and 30s, and demands for accountability for the tragedy. But many also share a strong feeling of embarrassment and anger that their country, a cultural and economic powerhouse that has risen from war, poverty and dictatorships, still ignores safety and regulatory issues.
Similar crowd crushes have happened in other developed countries in recent years, but the death counts there were much smaller than in Itaewon, where 156 people died and 173 were injured.
