Straight news: What do you think is the reason behind the serious stampede in Itaewon, Seoul, South Korea, which killed 154 people?
Liu Heping, Special Commentator: After sorting out the relevant news about this incident, I think that the causes of this tragedy can be analyzed from the perspectives of heaven, earth and man.
The so-called celestial factor mainly refers to the fact that the timing of this incident occurred during the "Halloween" period in the West. And Koreans, whose Christian culture is quite prevalent, are very keen to celebrate such a foreign festival. In addition, that day happened to be the first "Halloween" after three years of the epidemic, and those who were desperate because of the epidemic wanted to take this opportunity to release it completely.
The so-called local factor refers to the fact that Itaewon, where the stampede accident occurred, is not only a famous exotic sightseeing and tourist area in Korea, known as the Universal City of Korea, but also the streets of this place are extremely narrow and the terrain is slope-like, especially worse, the width of the street where the stampede accident occurred is sharply narrowed. This funnel-shaped street structure with slopes is the most prone to crowd stampedes.
The so-called human factor, or human factor, I think mainly refers to the local government in Seoul, South Korea, especially the local police, did not send enough police force to control the flow of people at the scene of the incident and divert the flow of people. According to relevant South Korean media reports, the flow of people in the local area on the day of the incident was more than ten times the usual one, but the local police in Seoul only deployed more than 200 police officers around Itaewon to maintain order, and there was a serious imbalance between police strength and passenger flow. From this point of view, it is not an exaggeration to say that this is a man-made disaster.
Straight News: In your opinion, who should be responsible for this serious stampede in Itaewon, Seoul, South Korea?
Liu Heping, Special Commentator: Indeed, I noticed that due to the carnival that took place in Itaewon, there was no clear event planner and organizer, and it was an event that local people and tourists spontaneously gathered according to the practice of previous years. On this basis, it has been argued that there is no way to hold a specific person or agency accountable in this matter.
I disagree. I think that perhaps because there is no planner and organizer for this event, it is difficult to pursue the criminal responsibility of a particular person, but there must be administrative responsibility for it. Because whether on holidays or in peacetime, maintaining the normal operation of social order and protecting people's lives and safety are the unshirkable natural responsibilities of every local government, especially local police. If the Seoul local government and local police are not alert and predictive about this large-scale crowd gathering, it is an administrative incompetence or administrative maladministration; If they foresaw this mass gathering and knew that danger would occur but did not take necessary and decisive measures in time, it would be administrative inaction and they would be held accountable.
For this reason, it is difficult for me to understand the behavior of South Korean Minister of Administration and Security Lee Sang-min to shirk responsibility. He said that the flow of people in Itaewon at the time of the incident was the same as in previous years, and there were demonstrations in Gwanghwamun and other places in Seoul, which divided part of the police force, so no additional manpower was sent to Itaewon. This act of shirking responsibility was collectively attacked by South Korean netizens. I think that Lee Sang-min's approach is very unwise, and it is not an appropriate crisis public relations behavior. You know, even if you can escape administrative accountability, in the end you can't escape political accountability, and the South Korean people will definitely use their votes to educate politicians about how to behave. Therefore, the wise move of the central government of South Korea and the local government of Seoul is to take all the responsibilities first, regardless of the three-seven-twenty-one, so that the people may be able to obtain a certain degree of understanding.
Straight News: We have seen similar stampedes in Itaewon, Seoul, South Korea, over the years, and in other countries and other regions. What lessons do you think the outside world should learn from this?
Liu Heping, Special Commentator: According to the relevant information I have found, the vast majority of large-scale stampedes that have attracted widespread attention in the world in the past three decades have occurred in Asia. For example, the pilgrimage to Mecca, the holy city of Saudi Arabia, on September 24, 2015, killed 2,300 people; On November 22, 2010, a stampede on the Diamond Bridge in Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital, killed at least 350 people; On October 13, 2013, a stampede during a temple fair in Datia district, Madeya province, central India, resulted in 115 deaths;
I believe that there are some common reasons behind the frequent occurrence of these collective stampedes in Asia. The first is that countries and regions in Asia have limited land resources and crowded densely populated living spaces, so that people living on these lands have to move in public spaces; The second is that the cultural tradition of collectivism is generally upheld in Asia, where people like to gather and make fun, and like to find pleasure in crowds and collectives; Third, the governments of some Asian countries and regions lack the necessary experience in controlling and channeling large-scale mass gathering activities.
The author丨Liu Heping, special commentator of Shenzhen Satellite TV's "Live Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan"