A year after South Korea's Halloween stampede, victims' families still seek justice: 'law won't bring our children back'

Almost a year since South Korea's horrific Halloween crowd crush, families are still grappling with grief as they continue to call for justice following the disaster that killed 159 mostly young people in Seoul's Itaewon nightlife district.

The revellers, including 26 foreigners, were crushed to death in a narrow, hilly alleyway after huge throngs surged through the bottleneck with no police to control the crowds.

A government investigation concluded in January that police and other government agencies failed to control crowds, although an estimated 130,000 partygoers were expected.

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Six key defendants, including Itaewon's Yongsan district head Park Hee-young and Yongsan district police head Lee Im-jae, have been standing trial for more than nine months after being charged with criminal negligence and manslaughter over the tragedy. They have been released on bail.

Some of the suspects, including Seoul police chief Kim Kwang-ho, are still under investigation.

But Home Minister Lee Sang-min, who oversees public safety, refused to yield to pressure from the victims' relatives to take responsibility for the disaster and resign from his post.

After being impeached for months by parliament, Lee returned to work in July after the Constitutional Court ruled in his favour and rejected his impeachment.

Victims' families and the opposition Democratic Party of Korea accuse the government of going after low and mid-ranking officials only to spare top officials, including the home minister - a confidant to President Yoon Suk-yeol.

The president has said he felt "an indescribable sadness" at the deaths, vowing to make the country safer.

A special law bill calling for an independent investigation into the disaster has been in limbo at parliament for months, with the conservative Yoon's People Power Party objecting to what it called "politically motivated and toxic phrases" in the bill.

Lee Jung-min, who lost his daughter in the tragedy and now leads the victims' families, said the families want President Yoon to attend the October 29 disaster anniversary memorial service in Seoul, clarify his stance on the government failure to protect people's lives and promise the passage of the special law.

"We should never have to go through a tragedy like this again in this country ... We need to find out the truth and remember this tragedy to prevent a recurrence," he told KBS TV on Sunday.

The victims' families have been holding protests and vigils, arguing the government investigation was not thorough enough to drive accountability for one of the worst disasters in this country.

Chung Mi-ra, whose daughter Lee Ji-hyun died in the crush a month before her wedding, has over the past year travelled every week to Seoul from the southern city of Jeonju to attend memorial services at the Seoul Plaza in the city centre, catching the first train and returning home on the last train.

It is a lonely, uphill battle, but the bereaved families' desire to find out the truth and punish those responsible remains elusive.

"A special law won't bring our children back to life, but they want us to get to the bottom of the tragedy," Chung said.

Itaewon has gradually recovered its lively atmosphere over the past year, with merchants reporting business returning to pre-tragedy levels.

But it is hard to find signs of this year's Halloween.

It was a far cry from last year, when stores, cafes and nightclubs were adorned with Halloween decoration, and costumes and celebratory events were advertised.

"Last year, we decorated the store for Halloween and even sold customised desserts, but we stopped doing so immediately after the tragedy," said Kang, 40, a cafe owner in Itaewon.

"The atmosphere is not right for celebrating Halloween this year," he said, adding he plans to decorate his store with Christmas decorations instead of Halloween trinkets.

A South African teacher of English at a primary school, who wished to be identified only as Stan, told local media his co-teachers had asked him if it would be appropriate to offer students Halloween activities this year as "it might still be a sensitive topic".

Department stores, which typically put up Halloween decorations and set up pop-up booths, are not holding Halloween-related events this year, with supermarket chains also scaling back their Halloween products and refraining from Halloween-themed marketing events.

Authorities say they are taking extra security precautions to manage crowds for the October 27-November 1 Halloween period.

The police will deploy 1,260 officers every day during the period at crowded areas such as Hongdae, Itaewon and Gangnam, with 16 narrow and crowded alleyways in Seoul also be closely monitored for crowds.

But questions remain whether South Korea has learned a lesson from the disaster, with experts pointing to South Koreans' low safety awareness and inadequate disaster response systems that belie the country's reputation as a highly industrialised country.

This summer saw record-breaking rainfall across the country, leaving more than 50 people dead and missing, as inadequate precautions and poor responses were blamed for the high casualties.

In July, 25 people died when their vehicles were trapped in a flooded underground tunnel in the southern city of Cheongju as authorities failed to close the traffic despite flood warnings.

This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

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