South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol ordered a one-week mourning period after at least 156 people were killed and almost as many injured in a crowd crush during the country’s first Halloween celebration in two years following the pandemic. The sad incident has taught many lessons to the South Korean government and has also been an early litmus test of the relationship between North Korea and the new Yoon administration.

The tragedy unfolded as an estimated 100,000 people, most of them in their 20s and 30s, were pushed into a narrow, steep alleyway in one of Seoul’s most popular nightlife districts in Itaewon on October 29, 2022. Shortly after 10 p.m., witnesses reported seeing crowds surging in different directions and people falling like dominoes, piling one person onto another and trapping them.

The police chief acknowledged that they had received numerous calls alerting them to the seriousness of the situation hours before the deadly incident and admitted that their emergency response was “inadequate” and vowed to conduct a “speedy and rigorous intensive investigation,” while the Interior Minister, Lee Sang-min, apologized to citizens at a National Assembly meeting, “It is very sad for me as a father who has a son and daughter… it is difficult to express in words how unreal this situation is, and it is difficult to accept this situation.”

WORLD LEADERS GRIEVE WITH SOUTH KOREA

Foreign leaders expressed condolences over the mass loss of lives, with at least 26 foreign nationals from 15 countries confirmed dead. At least four Chinese nationals were among those killed and China’s President Xi Jinping sent his condolences to President Yoon, “On behalf of the Chinese government and the people of China, I express our deep condolences for the victims,” their families and the injured. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden also sent well wishes to South Korea, but one particular country remained silent – North Korea’s President Kim Jong-un was absent among those expressing sympathy.

During South Korea’s former President Moon Jae-in’s administration, Kim had personally sent messages of condolences to Seoul over the passing of President Moon’s mother in 2019 and the coronavirus outbreak in 2020 where he expressed solidarity with “compatriots” in the South and wanted to “share the difficulties and pain with the South” as a common Korean people. In return, President Moon had sent a condolence letter to Pyongyang over typhoons and flood damages in 2020. However, unlike his predecessor, President Yoon has no personal relationship with Kim, thus it may be safe to assume that no response to the horrific Halloween tragedy is expected from the North.

WILL NORTH KOREA RESPOND?

Although Seoul has not heard from Pyongyang over the Halloween incident, some speculate that communication may take form as criticisms over President Yoon’s administration through North Korean state media. For example, during the Sewol ferry sinking tragedy in 2014 which resulted in over 300 deaths, North Korean state media criticized the effectiveness of the then South Korean President Park Geun-hye’s government for the slow rescue efforts and even demanded the president to be put to death. As public outrage in South Korea grows alongside the climbing death toll from the Halloween disaster, the North may even take advantage of the divisions among South Koreans to side with the people and criticize the government for going ahead with their joint South Korea-U.S. military drills amid national mourning period in order to justify the series of “aggressive and provocative” missile exchanges.

However North Korea chooses to respond, it would shed light on the current state of inter-Korean relations. If Kim does decide to send President Yoon a personal condolence and refrain from broadcasting a nationwide criticism of the South, the Itaewon tragedy could potentially serve as a bridge to mend relations between the two Korean governments. Kim Jong-un has undoubtedly been busy as missile testing activity has increased recently and communications in the midst of firing missiles could also send mixed messages to their southern neighbors.