Criticism for lying and avoiding responsibility at the position statement interview… call for resignation
Minister Lee, sticking to the position in the Ministry of Public Administration and Security”covering’… People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy “obstruction of the investigation”
Minister of Public Administration and Security Lee Sang-min speaks on the phone before the start of the cabinet meeting on the 22nd. yunhap news
“Minister Lee Sang-min lied and boasted that it might not have been solved by deploying police and firefighting personnel in advance… . What were you doing when the lives of our flower-like sons and daughters went out like candlelight?”
Minister of Public Administration and Security Lee Sang-min was called several times at a press conference held on the 22nd to express the position of the families of the victims of the ‘Itaewon Halloween Tragedy’. The bereaved families asked Minister Lee, who is in charge of disaster and safety management, to take responsibility. At the same time, he criticized Minister Lee’s attitude, which has been constantly rumored since the disaster. A bereaved family who met with the people’s power leadership the day before said, “I see it as not a disaster, but an indirect murder by the government.”
The position of Minister Lee, who draws a line on the theory of responsibility for the Itaewon disaster, is getting narrower day by day. The National Police Agency’s Special Investigation Headquarters (special version) launched a compulsory investigation into the Ministry of Public Administration and Security, and the bereaved families of the disaster directly criticized Minister Lee.
After the disaster, the controversy surrounding Minister Lee continued. On the 30th of last month, the day following the disaster, it was only the beginning of the remarks made to avoid responsibility, saying, “It was not a problem that might be solved even if police forces were deployed in advance.” A similar kind of story continued every day. The day before, it was revealed that the Ministry of Public Administration and Security had secured a list of the bereaved families of the disaster. Minister Lee’s remarks at the National Assembly, saying, “I don’t even have a list of people, let alone contact numbers,” regarding the information of the bereaved families of the disaster, are either lies or statements that have not undergone basic fact-checking. At the time, Minister Lee also said, “I don’t know why the members do not accept what the State Council member says and keep thinking that he is lying.”
It is not only the tales that originate from the absence of empathy and the attitude of avoiding responsibility. It is pointed out that the fact that Minister Lee, who has been booked as a suspect on charges such as civil service negligence and death by accident, is an obstacle to proper investigation and truth-finding.
For example, in materials distributed on the 10th and 21st, the Ministry of Public Administration and Security said, “[Last August]there were very strong objections in the process of establishing the police station and enacting the command rules, so the organization and manpower for exercising command and supervision rights were not reflected.” .
news”/>Firefighters who went to the special edition On the 22nd, the Fire Headquarters of the National Public Officials Union is holding a press conference in front of the Special Investigation Headquarters of the National Police Agency to deliver a signature to suspend the firefighter-oriented investigation. yunhap news
The line was drawn when the ‘police responsibility theory’ related to the disaster spread to the ‘Minister Lee responsibility theory’. There are criticisms that this attitude of the Ministry of Public Administration and Security, a senior police agency, can serve as a guideline for special investigations.
The People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy released a statement immediately following the press conference for the bereaved family that day and said, “Despite being one of the top officers in charge of national disaster and safety, Lee Sang-min of the Public Administration and Security Department denies the responsibility of the state and has the right to appoint the police, which can affect the investigation of the special edition.” If the minister does not step down, it is impossible to find out the truth and punish those responsible without the sanctuary of the disaster.”
