CLASHES CONTINUE OVER MEMORIAL ALTAR

[Anchor Lead]

Clashes continue over the memorial altar for the victims of the Itaewon tragedy. The bereaved families are determined to keep the altar in Seoul Square, saying that the Seoul City government proposed the Noksapyeong Station Altar without any proper consultation with the families, in which the government said, the Noksapyeong Station space was prepared after collecting the opinions of victims' families and deliberating the matter with relevant authorities.

[Pkg]

The second memorial altar for Itaewon crowd crush victims set up in Seoul Square now features the victims' photos and mortuary tablets as well.

[Soundbite] Kim Seo-jin(Seoul resident) : "It doesn’t make sense to me as a father. I wish the gov‘t shared the pain of the victims’ families."

The Seoul metropolitan government requested the victims' relatives remove the altar set up without approval by Feb. 15 and suggest another location for it. However, the bereaved families are determined to keep the altar in Seoul Square. They refuse to discuss the matter with the city government because it proposed a new memorial space on the fourth basement floor of Noksapyeong Station only after rejecting the permit for setting up an altar in Gwanghwamun Square.

[Soundbite] Lee Mi-hyun(Citizens’ committee on Itaewon tragedy measures) : "No proper discussions were held and nothing was agreed on. The victims’ relatives find the city government’s propaganda quite regrettable."

The Seoul metropolitan government says it prepared a memorial space at Noksapyeong Station after collecting the opinions of victims' relatives late last year and deliberating the matter with relevant authorities. Seoul City claims it discussed the matter with the bereaved families and tried holding a meeting with them, but it did not take place eventually.

[Soundbite] Oh Shin-hwan(Seoul Vice Mayor for Political Affairs(Feb. 7)) : "We have discussed this with the Seoul Metro and many other parties and agreed to set up a memorial space at Noksapyeong Station. We delivered this to the victims’ families as well."

With the two sides widely split on the matter, the memorial altar for the victims of the tragedy is gradually losing its genuine meaning.