As Yoon Suk-yeol vows to revise party rules to prevent another tragedy, leaders around the world send messages of condolence
“It’s really terrible. A tragedy and a disaster that should never have happened.” Under the state of “shock” South Korea finds itself in by Saturday’s deadly avalanche over the Halloween celebration that left at least 151 dead, its president, Yoon Suk-yeol, declared a week of mourning this Sunday and ordered to open an investigation.
“As a president, responsible for the lives of citizens and their safety, my heart is heavy and I am fighting to control my pain,” he announced in a live address broadcast to the nation in which he expressed his condolences. the families of the victims, according to the Yonhap news agency. To begin with, the government has declared a period of mourning that will last until Saturday and will also install an altar in downtown Seoul to honor the memory of the victims.
But his answer does not stop there, as he has also ordered the clarification of this tragic event. “The most important thing is to find out the causes of the accident and prevent similar ones,” President Yoon promised. To do so, he announced that “we will thoroughly investigate the reasons and make fundamental improvements so that accidents like this don’t happen again in the future.” In addition, he announced that he had instructed the Interior Ministry to review not only the Halloween celebrations planned for these days, but also other local festivals to ensure their safety and order.
After the Itaewon alleys, where the stampede took place, have been declared a disaster area, the injured and the families of the victims will receive special financial aid as compensation. To show their solidarity, all officials in South Korea will be required to wear a mourning ribbon this week and flags will be flown at half-mast.
Leaders from around the world, from the United States to Japan to Germany, France and the United Kingdom, have conveyed their condolences to South Korea. “We mourn with the people of the Republic of Korea (the country’s official name) and wish all those injured a speedy recovery,” US President Joe Biden said in a statement. .
For his part, the European Union’s head of diplomacy, Josep Borrell, was “deeply saddened by the terrible events in downtown Seoul” and assured that “we are with the people of the Republic at this difficult time”. As millions of people around the world feel, he lamented that “what should have been a celebration turned into a tragedy with so many young victims.”
Source: La Verdad
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