Enlarging an image
News summary on the way home from work, Subsletter Evening.
Among the victims of the Itaewon disaster, the overwhelming majority are in their twenties, and those in their twenties are the generation of extraordinary pain from the Sewol ferry disaster 8 years ago.
In particular, young people born in the mid to late 1990s are sometimes classified as the 'Sewol Ferry Generation' who share the same pain.
It breaks the hearts of many people that many of these victims overlap with the generation of the Sewol ferry.
67% of deaths are in their 20s
All 154 people who died in the Itaewon disaster have been identified. Let's look at them by age.
103 people in their 20s accounted for 67%, 30 people in their 30s, 11 people in their teens, 9 people in their 40s, and 1 in their 50s.
Those in their 20s overlap with the ‘Sewol Ferry Generation’, and the same age group as the second year students of Danwon High School in Ansan (mainly born in 1997) who were victims of the Sewol Ferry disaster 8 years ago are called the ‘Sewol Ferry Generation’.
The National Institute of the Korean Language also selected 'Sewol ferry generation' as one of the newly created words in 2014.
The fact that they received a bigger shock than any other generation in common has led to the formation of a single generation.
By birth, the mid-late 90s and mid-twenties seem to fall under the Sewol generation.
Enlarging an image
Actor Lee Ji-han, who died in the Itaewon disaster, was also born in 1998, and it is very heartbreaking that most of the victims overlap with the Sewol generation.
The sorrow for the victims who passed away without ever being able to bloom at a flowery age is indescribable, and their peers and their parents who have to face their tragedy head-on are also crying more deeply than anyone else.
It is the second time after the Sewol ferry disaster.
The deepest mourning in their 20s
The mourning for those in their 20s is deeper than anyone else's, and it is said that people in their 20s continue to visit the joint incense burners installed across the country.
A 20-year-old public official who visited the joint incense burner installed at the Jeju Provincial Office said, "Most of the victims are of the same age, so it's complicated. I hope that measures will be taken.”
Even at the joint incense burner in Seoul Plaza, people in their twenties are often seen mourning in tears.
To them, the sacrifices caused by the Itaewon disaster are no longer anyone else's business.
Here is a brief interview with a 20-something mourner.
Enlarging an image
◆ 20-something mourner: It's very sad that I'm at the same age as myself, and I feel so sad because I think I can suffer like that.
I hope you go to a nice place.
◇ Reporter: Do you know any of the victims?
◆ 20-something mourner: I don't know anyone, but since they are all my age, it hurts so much because I think that maybe even among my friends I could have suffered.
I just wanted to comfort you.
Repeated mistakes of the older generation
At the time of the Sewol ferry disaster, the true faces of incompetent and erroneous adults were exposed.
Even when the ship sank, an announcement was made to 'stay still' inside the ship, and there was no proper rescue outside the ship.
It's like adults watching a sinking ship.
Enlarging an image
The Sewol Ferry generation, who were high school students, became adults eight years later, and it can be said that the older generation, that is, the older generation, is responsible for the Itaewon disaster.
The biggest responsibility is that he promised to change the 'dangerous Republic of Korea' 8 years ago, but he failed to keep his promise.
In particular, the structure in which the younger generation takes the risk remains the same.
The Wall Street Journal and WSJ said, "Halloween in Korea is not a day for children to go to get candy." They made it into a major event where young people in their twenties and party goers go to clubs dressed in their own clothes. abandoned," he reported.
The main content of the report is to point out that Halloween culture has changed in Korea.
There are objections to the WSJ's point, but even if the point is correct, there are many analyzes that the older generation used Halloween Day commercially, that is, as a means of earning money, and it was corrupted.
This can also be seen as the responsibility of the older generation.
Also, there are many criticisms of the old generation's view of the Korean Halloween festival as a 'kkondae view'. Isn't it impossible to know who is right and who is wrong in a generation?
Besides, the 20s had to give up a lot of things like college life due to the corona virus.
There are many stories of people in Itaewon going to Itaewon to be happy for just one day rather than to have fun.
"It's not your 20's fault"
German sociologist Ulrich Beck warned in his famous book 『Risk Society』 that industrialization and modernization beget a risk society. is to live
Modern risks are serious in that they target the whole community, not just one or two people.
However, it is revealed that a lot of people in their 20s are particularly exposed to that risk.
Young people in their mid to late 20s suffered from the Sewol ferry disaster ahead of college admissions, and experienced the corona crisis before getting a job, so they are also called the 'disaster generation'.
It's not the 20's fault.
Shouldn't it be clear that we are victims of the insensitivity created by adults?
The saying "You're in your 20s, it's not your fault" seems more necessary than ever.
Enlarging an image
This is a photo of the memorial space in front of Exit 1 of Itaewon Station on Seoul Subway Line 6.
Citizens are bowing down, and it is said that there were many citizens who had alcohol.
(Photo = Yonhap News)