South Korean parliament passes no-confidence motion against interior minister over Halloween crush

The South Korean parliament passed a no-confidence motion against the country’s interior minister Lee-Sang min on Sunday for its poor response to the Itaewon Halloween crush of October.

Lee has been facing mounting pressures to step down since the tragedy struck on 29 October which left as many as 156 people dead and 152 injured. The opposition-controlled assembly has accused the interior ministry of not handling the crisis properly.

However, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol is most likely expected to reject the call for his minister’s resignation.

The Democratic Party has, therefore, threatened to impeach the interior minister if Suk-yeol rejects its no-confidence motion.

According to a report by The Korea Times, the Democratic Party floor leader Park Hong-keun had asked the president in November to sack Lee. “Choose now between the people and Interior and Safety Minister Lee Sang-min. Stop testing the people’s patience and immediately sack Minister Lee,” Park said.

The interior minister also apologised in the National Assembly saying, “It is very sad for me as a father who has a son and daughter… it is difficult to express in words how unreal this situation is, and it is difficult to accept this situation.”

Furthermore, the ruling People Power Party has denounced Democratic Party’s internal investigation into the matter, calling it “unreasonable”.

Police admits response to be inadequate

In November, South Korea’s police chief Yoon Hee-keun said that the administration’s response to the Itaewon crush was inadequate. This was the first such acknowledgment from authorities.

Yoon Hee said he felt limitless over the public’s safety over what had happened.

The police chief further confessed that the police had received numerous calls well before the accident took place, which gave them enough time to respond accordingly owing to the seriousness of the situation but their response was lacking.

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