[Editorial] Government Has to Come Up with Improved Safety Measures

The city of Daegu is still mourning over the loss of precious life in the terrible subway fire which took place on February 18. Victims` family members are still suffering from the deaths of their loved ones. It is lamentable to see the country gradually forgetting its promise to be reborn as a country that pays keen attention to public safety on the tragic occasion of the subway fire.

Although one month has already passed since the accident, there has been little progress made in identifying victims and paying due attention to the victims` family members. The Daegu City Government and the Daegu Subway Corporation ruined the accident scene by cleaning up the scorched subway station one day after the accident and are still shifting responsibility around among each other. In addition, the investigation into suspicions regarding a cover-up which enraged the public is still underway.

There has been little difference in government measures to improve safety on the nation`s subways. It is quite understandable that victims` family members mounted a protest to suspend operation of subways by occupying a subway car until all safety measures are implemented. Let us not let these victims` family members down. The government has to come up with safety measures to prevent the recurrence of a similar accident once and for all and not allow the loss of the 198 precious lives to become a useless sacrifice. To make safer subways, practical and sweeping safety reform measures have to be put in place instead of the formalistic safety checks that were conducted right after the incident. When the bereaved family members see the sacrifice of the 198 victims resulting in improved safety on our subways, their grief may be somewhat alleviated.

However, the central government and the Daegu city government have yet to take aggressive measures to prevent the recurrence of such a tragic accident. Establishing a disaster management center (tentative name) won`t be enough to defuse public concerns over safety. Even an incumbent government minister criticized that the main culprit for the Daegu subway fire was the prevailing bureaucratic culture in which no one takes responsibility or makes decisions, with officials hiding behind their own prudence.

That is why there is prevailing mistrust in the government and the city government throughout the whole of Daegu.

It is time for the government and the Korean people to share their sorrows with the residents of Daegu and work together to relieve the grief shared by those in Daegu. We wonder if the government did its best to fulfill its duties in helping those who lost their loved ones and hope in the wake of the terrible accident that ordinary Koreans can unite to help people in Daegu by donating money. It is the government`s task to turn the city of Daegu from a city representing a leading example of Koreans` insensitivity to safety to one of the safest cities in the world.