The police, who are investigating the 'Itaewon crushing disaster', are struggling to determine where the legal responsibility for the accident lies.
There are claims that some citizens behind the ranks or employees of nearby businesses contributed to the large-scale casualties, but it is unclear whether criminal punishment will be possible.
There is also no way to hold the Yongsan-gu Office and the police and other public officials legally responsible.
According to the police today (31st), the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's investigation headquarters are looking into the suspicion that some citizens deliberately pushed the person in front of them at the time of the accident.
On social media, there were testimonies that some citizens on the uphill side of the alleyway where the accident occurred deliberately pushed the person in front of them, shouting 'push push'.
The police are reconstructing the situation at the time based on nearby CCTV and video footage from the scene where the accident was recorded.
There is an opinion that the charge of manslaughter can be applied if a chain reaction in which the ranks collapsed and people were entangled by pushing the person in front occurred.
Even if the situation was not intended to cause casualties and entanglement of people, it was a situation in which an accident was sufficiently foreseen, so criminal responsibility could be held.
Furthermore, there is an opinion that the act of pushing the person in front is legally evaluated as assault, so it is possible to apply the charge of assault and death rather than negligence.
On the other hand, there is a prospect that it will be difficult to identify the person who shouted 'push', and it will be difficult to logically prove a causal relationship with human casualties.
This is because we have to examine the causal relationship in several steps, one by one, between the act of pushing the person in front of us and the result of the person at the front of the line hitting the floor.
There were also testimonies that the so-called 'guards' who guarded the store blocked the entrance when people who escaped from the tangled line tried to escape to the store in the alley.
There are many voices calling for criminal punishment of the guards who are brought back into a dangerous situation rather than saving those who are on the verge of being crushed.
Police are also examining whether they have any criminal charges.
However, it is expected that it will be difficult to hold them legally responsible for the 'non-rescue act' itself.
The 'Good Samaritan Act', which punishes those who do not rescue others in an emergency, was discussed several times in the National Assembly, but all were rejected.
It is also of interest whether criminal responsibility can be imposed on public officials who fail to prevent accidents.
When it became known that the alleyway where the disaster occurred was only 3.2m wide and the slope was 10%, it was claimed that the accident was a human resource.
Some predict that it could be held responsible for not properly maintaining this alley.
Even if it is not directly related to the accident, the possibility of criminal punishment cannot be excluded if illegal circumstances, including negligence, are revealed during the investigation process.
However, even if the illegal circumstances of public officials are discovered, if they are not connected to this accident, the result is somewhat far from determining responsibility for the disaster.
Deuk-beom Song, a lawyer at a law firm in Korea, said, "It is reasonable to claim that the alleys should have been repaired in advance to prevent accidents," he said.
Lawyer Song continued, "In the Sampoong Department Store case and the Seongsu Bridge case, even though specific illegal acts such as poor construction were confirmed, the causal relationship became an issue.
(Photo = Yonhap News)