<Itaewon accident> Who’s responsible for large-scale social disaster? … 48% say “President/Central Gov” : Korea

Nearly half of South Koreans say that the president and the central government are responsible for major social disasters such as the Daegu subway fire, the Sewol ferry disaster, and the Itaewon disaster. The poll results have been made public.

According to the "Awareness Survey on Dangerous Situations and Responses in Korean Society" released on January 10th by the Korea Government Research Institute's Government Data Research Center, "When such a social disaster occurs, who do you think is the main cause?" 47.6% answered, "The president/central government does."

This was followed by "companies and organizations that operate facilities where accidents occurred (22.1%)", "individuals who provided the cause of negligence or carelessness (14.5%)” and "local governments with the jurisdiction (10.0%)."

The Gallup Research Institute of Korea was commissioned by the Government Data Research Center to conduct an online survey of 1,000 men and women between the ages of 19 and 69 for 14 days starting December 7th.

Regarding "the biggest reason why social disasters occur repeatedly", "lack of awareness of danger in society as a whole (29.3%)", "absence of a disaster response control tower (25.0%)", and "staff during disaster response such as roles and duties of each organization" paralysis (22.5%)".

69% of respondents said they "agree," while 31% said, "disagree."

In addition, 51.6%, more than half, answered that they would pay more taxes than they do now to increase the budget and human resources for social disasters. Regarding the amount of tax to be paid, it was calculated that "an average of 140,000 won (about 14,798 yen) per person per year".

"Firefighters (86.2%)", "hospitals/medical institutions (77.2%)" and "citizens (66.1%)" were cited as effective entities in responding to social disasters. On the other hand, responses by the police (27.9%), the central government (25.5%), local governments (23.0%), and the press (18.4%) were not considered effective.