“Since I last saw you”: Late actor Lee Ji Han's mother pens an emotional letter on the anniversary of Itaewon tragedy

In the wake of the one-year passing of the Itaewon tragedy, the late actor Lee Ji Han's mother penned an emotional letter on Sunday, October 29, 2023, recalling the fateful night when she lost her son. In the letter, she wrote that she still cannot quite comprehend the death of her beloved son. She wrote that "it is been a year" and still his absence is excruciatingly painful for her.

My dearest son Ji Han, it's Mom. They say it's been a year today since I last saw you. Even now, your face is so vivid in my memory, as if I saw you just yesterday. Two months ago, on your birthday, you didn't come, and today, it's been a year since I last saw you. You're still not with us."

Lee Ji Han was a 24-year-old K-Pop actor and artist, who was known for Producer 101 Season 2. He was one of the unfortunates who lost their lives on October 29, 2022, during the Itaewon crowd crush during Halloween.

To add some background, nearly 160 young people lost their lives in a stampede during Halloween weekend in Itaewon in 2022, a well-known Seoul nightlife neighborhood. On the evening of October 29, 2022, a crowd crush in the Seoul area of Itaewon resulted in 159 fatalities and 196 injuries, drastically altering the lives of hundreds of young people.

Twelve of the deceased were teens, while eighty percent of the victims were in their 20s and 30s, according to South Korea's Ministry of the Interior and Safety.

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The Itaewon tragedy is a scar that will never fully heal and families of the deceased still bear its burn

Lee Ji Han's mother continued in her letter by sharing that no matter how hard she tries to recall the color of her son's eyes, she can't seem to do it. She mentions blaming herself for not being able to be with her son on the fateful night of October 29, 2022, to save her son from dying on the cold wretched streets.

"No matter how hard I try to remember, I just can't recall your clear, bright eyes, and these days, I find myself battling a different kind of despair than before. I wonder how frightening and painful it must have been for you on that Itaewon street. Mom and Dad should have rushed to Itaewon to save you. If Mom had gone that day, you might not have gone to heaven from that cold and lonely street without receiving any help. The guilt and regret for not having done so weigh on me day by day."

She continues by questioning the South Korean government and its negligence in taking proper measures before the Halloween celebrations in Itaewon.

"I could have saved even one person, but why didn't I? Why didn't the government prepare for such a foreseeable tragedy? Every day, even when I close my eyes and think, I can't understand it, and my anger grows as the days pass by. I will seek to find everything I can do so that your death will not be in vain."

Nearly a year later, the alleyway where the tragedy occurred is marked by a patchwork of vibrant Post-it notes. Itaewon has developed a reputation as a vibrant, multicultural neighborhood made up of various landmarks (such as the Seoul Central Mosque) and restaurants offering foreign cuisine in recent years.

Since the 2014 Seoul ferry tragedy, which claimed the lives of 304 people, including 250 students and instructors from Danwon State High School, the Itaewon crowd crush stands as South Korea's other greatest peacetime tragedy.

The Itaewon crush, like the ferry disaster that sank, brought attention to the South Korean government's handling of the incident. Its detractors charged it with responding too slowly and refusing to accept responsibility for the events of that evening. However, officials have been under fire for some time now, and it seems like they are not taking any chances this year.

A new CCTV system to track crowd sizes was among the many new measures revealed by the Seoul Metropolitan Government "to ensure a safe Halloween", as reported by CNN.

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Netizens share their thoughts after one year of the Itaewon tragedy that scarred so many lives

Furthermore, other survivors of the stampede tragedy didn't quite fare well. After confronting online critics of the victims, 16-year-old Lee Jae Hyeon, a survivor who had lost two of his closest friends in the mob crush, took his own life in December 2022.

As reported by the New York Times, he implored his parents not to hold themselves responsible for his passing in a video message and said, "I wish that I would have parents like you in my next life."

Netizens come together on social media to mourn and remember the lives lost on the one-year anniversary of that fateful day on October 29, 2022.

In at least 14 public spaces in Seoul where they expect sizable crowds to congregate for Halloween, South Korean officials claim to have stepped up crowd control measures, security procedures, and site inspections.

It remains to be determined if the catastrophe that struck Itaewon last year will have an impact on its increasing popularity. Nevertheless, nightlife areas all throughout Asia are increasing security measures to try to avoid a repeat of this kind of catastrophe.