By Hyunsu Yim, SEOUL South Korea
South Korea's National Assembly voted on Thursday to approve a bill backed by the ruling and opposition parties to launch a fresh probe into the deadly Halloween crowd crush in the capital Seoul in 2022.
An earlier bill, which was
backed the opposition-led parliament without the support of the ruling People
Power Party (PPP), was vetoed by
President Yoon Suk-yeol in January.
The latest bill is a
compromise that removes granting full investigative power to the panel, which
Yoon had objected to, according to his office.
Under the bill, a committee
made up of members recommended by two major parties and a chair chosen by them
through consultations will look into the tragedy.
The passage of the bill comes
after Yoon met, opens new tab opposition leader Lee Jae-myung of
the Democratic Party for talks on Monday following the PPP's crushing general
election defeat last month.
It also comes amid growing pressure on authorities, including from relatives of the victims, to hold those responsible to account.
A spokesperson for Yoon on
Wednesday welcomed the agreement reached between the ruling and opposition
parties on the bill as indicating a return to cooperation in politics.
The Halloween
crowd crush in Seoul's Itaewon district in 2022 killed nearly 160
people and relatives of the victims as well as the United Nations Human Rights
Committee have since called for an independent inquiry.
A police investigation published early last year concluded that a lack of preparation and an inadequate response were the main factors behind the deadly crush.
In January, South Korean
prosecutors indicted, opens new tab the former head of the Seoul
Metropolitan Police Agency, charging him with contributing through negligence
to the crush.
No senior government figures,
including the interior and safety minister, have resigned or been sacked so far
over the crush.
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