Police forming team to prevent abuse against families of tragedy victims: report
According to the Yonhap News Agency on Thursday, the National Police Agency has started recruitment of officers for the unit, tentatively named "investigative team against secondary victimization."
The team will be headed by two superintendent-level officers — mid-level management position usually in charge of department at police stations.
The National Office of Investigation will evaluate the applicants and, if none is deemed fit to carry out the role, will commandeer officers with sufficient experience in investigation and planning.
Last Wednesday, Lee invited 200 family members of victims of tragedies with mass casualties, including the Jeju Air crash last year, an underground tunnel flooding in 2023, the deadly crowd crush in Itaewon, Seoul in 2022, and the sinking of ferry Sewol in 2014. He issued an official apology as the president, and pledged to form an investigative team to prevent secondary damage for bereaved families and survivors.
The presidential office said last Thursday that Lee has ordered officials to compose a joint team of police and prosecutors to closely probe the Itaewon tragedy, while instructing a permanent team to prevent abuse of the victims' families.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Korea Herald
10 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Industry minister ends 2-day tariff talks with Lutnick without results
South Korean Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan has wrapped up his two-day tariff talks with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, without tangible results, sources said Saturday. Kim and Lutnick's second-day meeting, which took place at Lutnick's residence in New York, finished late Friday night (US time) without solid results, according to the sources familiar with the matter. The two had also met the previous day in Washington to discuss pending trade issues, including tariffs, non-tariff measures and industrial cooperation. In Friday's meeting, Kim is said to have presented a revised proposal to narrow their differences on contentious items, including the $100 billion investment plan by Korean companies in the US and what Washington calls "trade barriers" on beef and rice imports by Seoul. The Donald Trump administration has reportedly been pressuring Korea to lift its import ban on American beef from cattle aged 30 months or older and expand rice imports from the US. However, the advanced proposal appears to have fallen short of satisfying Lutnick, as the sources indicated South Korea needs further "internal discussions" based on the results of this week's negotiations. The presidential office is reportedly planning to hold another trade strategy meeting later in the day to discuss the next steps toward securing a tariff deal with the US, following a similar session held the previous day. South Korea faces added pressure in the negotiations as Japan, one of its major export competitors, recently concluded a trade deal with Washington that lowered reciprocal tariffs to 15 percent in exchange for further opening of its markets to American automobiles and agricultural products, along with a $550 billion investment pledge. The Trump administration has warned Korea will be subject to a 25 percent reciprocal tariff unless it reaches a deal before Aug. 1. Meanwhile, Kim also met with US Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who doubles as chairman of the National Energy Council, this week to discuss strengthening cooperation in areas such as liquefied natural gas, energy security and critical minerals, according to his office. Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo also held separate meetings with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in a bid to make progress in trade negotiations. (Yonhap)
Korea Herald
15 hours ago
- Korea Herald
US continues to have 'productive' talks with S. Korea to reduce 'unfair' trade barriers: White House
WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump's administration continues to have "productive" negotiations with South Korea to reduce "unfair" trade barriers and enhance market access for US businesses, a White House official said Friday. South Korea has been making concerted efforts to reach a trade deal with Washington to reduce the threatened 25 percent "reciprocal" tariffs and sector-specific tariffs on steel and automobiles before Aug. 1, when the reciprocal tariffs are set to take effect. "We continue to have productive negotiations with South Korea to reduce unfair trade barriers and improve market access for American firms," the official told Yonhap News Agency via email. The official's characterization of the negotiations as "productive" raised cautious hope for headway in the trade talks, as Seoul has made proposals for bilateral cooperation in key strategic industry sectors, including shipbuilding, semiconductors and batteries. On Thursday, South Korea's Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan and Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo met jointly with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington as part of their efforts to reach a trade deal with the Trump administration. Seoul's Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol and Yeo had planned to have a "two-plus-two" meeting with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in the US capital on Friday, but the meeting was postponed due to a scheduling conflict on Bessent's part. Earlier in the day, Trump said that his administration will have most of its trade deals with countries finished by Aug. 1. The president also said his administration might send close to 200 countries a letter on their tariff rate, which he said means, "They have a deal. It's done." (Yonhap)
Korea Herald
15 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Trump remains open to dialogue with Kim to achieve 'fully denuclearized' N. Korea: White House
WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump remains open to engagement with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to achieve a "fully denuclearized" North Korea, a White House official said Friday, a day after his administration announced a raft of actions to disrupt Pyongyang's illicit revenue generation schemes. The Trump administration unveiled a package of actions against North Korea on Thursday, including offering rewards for information about seven North Korean nationals involved in a scheme believed to raise funds for the reclusive regime's nuclear and missile programs. "President Trump in his first term held three historic summits with North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un that stabilized the Korean Peninsula and achieved the first ever leader-level agreement on denuclearization," the official told Yonhap News Agency via email. "The president retains those objectives and remains open to engaging with Leader Kim to achieve a fully de-nuclearized North Korea," the official added. The official was responding to a question about whether Thursday's actions against the North signaled that the Trump administration assesses diplomacy with Pyongyang to be difficult for the time being, and that it would focus on sanctions and other pressure-focused measures to bring North Korea back to dialogue. Expectations have persisted that Trump might seek to resume his personal diplomacy with Kim, which led to three in-person meetings between them -- the first in Singapore in 2018, the second in Hanoi in February 2019 and the third at the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom in June 2019. Last month, Trump said he will get "the conflict solved" with North Korea if there is one -- a remark that added to the anticipation that he might want to kick-start dialogue with Kim. On Thursday, the Trump administration took a series of steps against the North, including sanctioning a North Korean trading firm, warning that it "will not stand idly by" when Pyongyang profits from what it called criminal activities to fund its "destabilizing" weapons development programs.
