▲ Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon (R), the leader of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), speaks in a leadership meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul on Oct. 30, 2023. (Yonhap)

PPP-Itaewon

PPP leader calls for swift passage of bill aimed at preventing tragedies like Itaewon crowd crush

SEOUL, Oct. 30 (Yonhap) -- The ruling People Power Party (PPP) leader called Monday for opposition support for a pending safety bill aimed at preventing tragedies like last year's Itaewon crowd crush from happening again.

Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon made the remarks a day after a massive commemorative event to mark the first anniversary of the deadly crowd crush, which killed 159 people on the Halloween weekend in the nightlife district of Itaewon.

"The most important task for the government and political parties is to protect people's safety by promptly responding to crises when they occur, based on thorough preventive measures, early identification of risks and swift cooperation among relevant agencies," Kim said during a party meeting.

Kim was referring to a revision to the Framework Act On The Management Of Disasters And Safety that the government proposed last year in an effort to prevent similar disasters from happening again. The legislation centers on requiring local governments to come up with safety measures for events without organizers.

"If the opposition has no plans to use the tragedy for a political fight, there is no reason for the law's passage to be postponed for such a long period of time," Kim said.

But the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) has argued that those responsible have not been properly held to account and has demanded that a bill should first be enacted to launch a special investigation into the tragedy.

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