Same problems, same frustrations: Why Itaewon feels like deja vu
Social affairsNov 4, 2022
In the aftermath of the Sewol ferry sinking which killed 304 people, the government allocated a total of 1.5 trillion won ($1.06 billion) to set up a new emergency communication system. That system was officially launched last year. However, it barely worked as designed when 156 lives, most of them young people, died in a crowd crush during Halloween festivities in Itaewon on Oct. 29. From a lack of appropriate safety measures before the disaster to the authorities’ botched response afterw