VOA新闻杂志2023--韩国法院推翻了对部长万圣节致命踩踏事件的弹劾

South Korean Court Overturns Removal of Minister over Deadly Crowd Crush

South Korea's top court has overturned a parliamentary vote that removed the country's public safety minister over a deadly crowd incident in October.

The Constitutional Court ruled Tuesday to lift the impeachment² of Lee Sang-min. Lee was serving as South Korea's Minister of the Interior and Safety when 159 people were crushed to death in a densely³ packed crowd during a Halloween celebration last October in Seoul.

The court's decision permits Lee to return to his position, which had been filled by an acting⁴ minister. South Korea's opposition⁵-controlled parliament voted in February to impeach¹ Lee. Legislators sought to hold him responsible for the government's failure to put in place effective crowd control measures.

In its rejection⁶ of Lee's impeachment, the Constitutional Court suggested that he alone could not be held responsible for the crowd crush. The court said it had not found enough evidence to prove that Lee had failed to carry out his legal and constitutional duties to protect the public's safety.

Instead, the court blamed a number of different government agencies for failing to "develop a combined ability to respond to large-scale disasters."

The 58-year-old Lee is considered an important ally of conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol. The president's office welcomed the court's decision. Yoon had rejected calls from opposition politicians to remove Lee as minister.

Relatives of people who died in the crowd crush criticized the court. The mother of victim Park Ga-young called the ruling "truly devastating⁷." She told Reuters news agency, "Our children, young people, are living in a place that isn't safe to even walk in."

In a statement released by his ministry⁸, Lee expressed support to accident victims and their families. But he said it was time to end "wasteful⁹ political bickering¹¹" over the incident.

An investigation¹² into the incident found that police and local officials in Seoul's Yongsan district had failed to plan effective crowd control measures before the Halloween celebration took place.

Investigators¹³ found that police had ignored calls placed by people warning of growing crowds before the incident late on October 29. The investigation also found mistakes were made during emergency response measures during the celebration.

Police have brought criminal charges against 23 officials over the lack of crowd controls and safety measures. About half of those charged are law enforcement officers.

Words in This Story

respond – v. to say or do something as an answer or reaction to something that has been said or done

devastating – adj. causing a lot of damage or destruction

bicker¹⁰ – v. to argue about something that is not very important

1 impeach   

v.弹劾；检举

参考例句：

• We must impeach the judge for taking bribes.我们一定要检举法官收受贿赂。
• The committee decided to impeach the President.委员会决定弹劾总统。

2 impeachment   

n.弹劾；控告；怀疑

参考例句：

• Impeachment is considered a drastic measure in the United States.在美国，弹劾被视为一种非常激烈的措施。
• The verdict resulting from his impeachment destroyed his political career.他遭弹劾后得到的判决毁了他的政治生涯。

3 densely   

ad.密集地；浓厚地

参考例句：

• A grove of trees shadowed the house densely. 树丛把这幢房子遮蔽得很密实。
• We passed through miles of densely wooded country. 我们穿过好几英里茂密的林地。

4 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

5 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

6 rejection   

n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃

参考例句：

• He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。

7 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

8 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

9 wasteful   

adj.（造成）浪费的，挥霍的

参考例句：

• It is a shame to be so wasteful.这样浪费太可惜了。
• Duties have been reassigned to avoid wasteful duplication of work.为避免重复劳动浪费资源，任务已经重新分派。

10 bicker   

vi.(为小事)吵嘴，争吵

参考例句：

• The two children used to bicker about who should do the washing-up.这两个小孩子过去常为该由谁洗餐具一事而争吵。
• They always bicker when they meet at school.在学校见面时他们总是争吵。

11 bickering   

v.争吵( bicker的现在分词 )；口角；（水等）作潺潺声；闪烁

参考例句：

• The children are always bickering about something or other. 孩子们有事没事总是在争吵。
• The two children were always bickering with each other over small matters. 这两个孩子总是为些小事斗嘴。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

13 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》