Abuse is ‘a stab to the heart’: trolls target families of Seoul Halloween stampede victims 

Imagine being so unhappy with your life that you have to make a mockery of a grieving family.

Can't imagine raising someone for decades and then not seeing them the next day, it's devastating 😢

No way. WHY would you do this to grieving families? That is so f*cked up, to say such heartless things to these families. At a memorial no less! How dare they say such inappropriate, disgusting, horrible things to these families that just lost their prides and joys to a tragedy that could've been prevented! When did humanity fall this low that they won't allow families to even grieve properly? These families need help but their voices are ignored and they're already suffering enough as is. The sewol tragedy also forever haunts me, but not as much as it haunts those poor, innocent victim's families, who will never find closure at this rate. Is it so difficult to be human and have compassion? How could people have sunk so low?

Parents spend so much of their lives raising their kids, and in one night, it can all be taken away. It breaks my heart to see that. My heart goes to all the victims of this tragedy.

Online abuse is sickening, the bully is more sickening. No humanity.

I’m so sorry for the mother and the family of everyone who died the government should be held accountable how can anyone troll on such an awful incident. I hope the investigation continues as it should.

3:05- 3:36 - I can't believe some monsters had the nerve to say these things to the kin of the victims. How dead inside and rotten to the core do you have to be to say such things to a grieving person? It's scary how evil some humans can be....

I literally don't understand how people can attack those who've lost someone close to them. the feeling that hits the hardest is waking up to make them their favorite breakfast only for you to realize they aren't here anymore. *Those who attack a victim won't understand a victims pain until they're the victim*

Something is terribly wrong with the netizens of South Korea when they harass families of a stampede tragedy for trolling purposes. That's beyond disgusting.

I cannot imagine how it must feel to lose a child and then be harrassed while dealing with the grief. My heart goes out to the families. I hope something can be done to make it stop.

They have the pride to accuse the victims of a tragedy of "profiteering" and yet they themselves never felt the horror of a tragedy like the Seoul Halloween stampede

Time and time again, nothing changes and tragedy repeats itself. Please don't give attention to trolls. Some people don't know tragedy until it happens to them or their loved ones or are just plain evil preying on negative emotions.

Losing a child, even as a grown-up, has to be one of the worse things that anyone could ever endure. My heart goes out to the parents for the pain that will always be there. 💔

A lot of people don't seem to understand how crowds of this size work. It's like being caught in a strong current in the ocean. It's not as if people chose to squeeze themselves. You kind of get swept up with the direction of the crowd. One Halloween I went to see the parade in NYC. I will never do that again. It was crowded the second I got out of the station and I had pretty much no control over where I was going. Luckily the city anticipated this and had baracaded much of the streets to allow some flow of traffic around the city blocks. But it took over an hour to circle a block and even longer to eventually escape the sprawling crowd. There were police everywhere controlling the flow. It was scary and suffocating. If things weren't so organized, I don't think it's fair to say I would've deserved to die just because I wanted to see a f*cking parade. The victim blamers in this comment section need to reflect or something. Noone went to Itaewon to die thay day, and it's not a crime punishable by death to want to go to a party. Do you blame people who get killed in mass shootings for leaving their homes? Do you blame college students who go to school and get killed in a mass shooting there for wanting to get an education? You flip your opinion based on these victims' intentions or goals, so you place no value on their lives as human beings. Imagine if you got killed for making a small mistake or simply wanting to have some innocent fun? Heartless

RIP to all the young souls , I hope the friends and families of the victims are able to get thru this 🙏

As a mother myself, it’s truly heart breaking to watch this.

Those trolls are sickening and have some serious mental issues. It seems politics in Korea is just as toxic as in the West. How about politicians trying to win votes by actually doing the right thing. Hope the victims families find the answers they deserve and that they can find some closure.

You can never understand the pain of bereavement until it happens to someone you love.

Moral: Do not feed the trolls. If they came up with the mean comments, DO NOT REPLY. REPORT THE COMMENT. Let them be fool themselves.

Imagine going out of your way to harass a family on end for losing their son and joining a group to prevent this from happening again. I have no faith in humanity anymore.

This is ridiculous. How could these people make fun and insult the families who lost their beloved in tragic death?!

Broke my heart hearing about that dad waiting at 2:00 in the morning for his dead son to come home.

How can people say such things to a victims family. Its ridiculous

this still devastates me every time i see it so i can’t fathom how much worse the bereaved family members are feeling still. to troll them is insanely cruel and inhumane and i hope those trollers get their just deserts and due karma.

Don't the people, who say nasty things to a grieving family, have a mother, sister, brother, father or any family member? Do they lack empathy, just try to put yourself once in their shoes..I don't know any one of them personally but I couldn't stop myself crying when I saw the mother hugging her son's clothes, saying love you and listening to his voicemails just to feel his presence.

The family needs grief Counselling, I hope someone helps them heal

The Korean government as usual tries it's hardest to look the other way and avoid accountability. Keeping quiet is a sign of cowardice. But they are not cowards when imposing taxes.

Unfortunately, terrible and disgusting people do really exist even if you’re innocent, lost, and grieving. Some just lacked empathy.

I can't imagine losing my kids. The pain will be so unbearable and unforgetable for life.

Bullying is really a different level in Korea. Like, there is no empathy, full of hatred, very toxic.

Trolling families of the victims is a new level of low. My deepest condolences to the loved-ones of the victims.

my heart broke so much when the mom was crying with her knees to the ground, it shows how unbearable and beyond her pain is. and the husband attempting suidcide after the day in the accident during the time when his son would come back home is just so sad. praying for these families... 💔🙏🙏

Am heartbroken to see this woman cries for her son. Why this mother can’t grieve in peace? Why does it needs to be politicized? Pain is pain, let these people grieve in peace🙏🏼.

Those who attack the victims and families will remain unloved and lonely forever.

Their son is dead. A life they can never get back. People need to back off of them. They have every right to seek justice

I feel so sorry for the families and the mother that is in the documentary I literally started crying 😭 for them I don’t think they knew how bad of a crowd it was going to be and imagine laying dying and not able not return home that’s scary asf I understand that people where excited about Halloween after the Covid restrictions were lifted but the police should have been there in general to prevent accidents like that from ever happening again. I hope next Halloween they very will be careful if they do go to Itaewon for Halloween

My heart broken hearing the son saying love to his mom 💔

How incredibly cruel and evil these people that are harassing and abusing the families victims are. Seriously the worst of human kind. Nobody, no one should have lost their lives that night and the government did little to nothing afterwards. Also, the police department failed big time. This event had history of being overcrowded every year. Shame on the government, shame on the police department and shame on those disgusting people harassing the victims' families. My heart and my prayers go to the families who struggle to live day by day without their loved ones. No parent should ever go through something like this.

I was wondering why the portrait seemed so familiar, i just realised this is Produce 101 Lee JiHan's parents. This is just devastating, I hope the best for their family now and in the future; those trolls are absolutely disgusting

The ones who abusing, bullying these families are basically monster. Human shape with evil heart. The real monster

Lee Ji Han was a contestant in season 2 of Produce 101. He continued to pursue acting and was about to be in his breakout role. According to some sources he saved a little girl during that night, helping her up to a staircase where some people were taking refuge from the crowd.

i can watch all kind of sorrow and sad moments but i cant see a mother and father crying helplessly for their dead son i wish it never happend but we can't change what is destined, and i can't believe people being so mean and harsh to them in their hard times there should be a way to take stringent action against these toxic people as well ...my sympathy and condolences to all the affected families 🙏

South Korea has this sick problem.sometimes it seems like many people are unhappy

Bullying should be criminalized, negligent policemen should be imprisoned, people from all social groups should cooperate and demand changes, otherwise the society will destroy itself.

That is terrible. My heart breaks for the family members that survived . I’m so sorry.

Track and catch all these keyboard warriors . Make an example out of those caught so the rest of the dogs will be fearful as well.

as a grieving parents, I definitely can feel how heart broken the parents are. losing a child is painful already, the heart broken is incurable, imagine adding inhumane comments to that indescribable pain. if you can't do or say nice things, you better not say nor do anything at all.

How can people be so heartless. Targeting people who lost their children is low even for me.

Trolling people who lost someone dear to them is just heartless! Where is your heart trolls? What drives you to do such heartless things? Your actions might cost someone its life! Do you really want that!?

My heart breaks for the affected families. How can people be so cruel as to say such things?!

You know they say "your own people will backstab you" that's what happening here.

Can't imagine how she is bearing that pain, condolences to family 🙏🤍

When everything about looks and vanity, this country lack heart and empathy. Imagine bullying griefing parent and politicize tragedy.

It was such a horrible night, i feel so sorry for all the lost souls... I was there that night and arrived after it happened, but none of us knew what happened until almost midnight! And even then the infos and communications were bad! We didnt know what happened, where it happened, if it was still going on, if we should evacuate, anything at all! I remember arriving at itaewon station around 10pm. Even the stairs up from the subway stn were overcrowded! And so many people were already leaving but even they didnt tell the other people why they were leaving. We thought they just move on to another party area. And outside we saw police and ambulance but it seemed because they blocked the street for normal traffic. On the other side of the street the atmosphere was completely normal and no one knew what had happened across the street! Really no communication at all that reached us until much later.....

Sick and twisted people in the world hiding behind their keyboards. Who looks at grieving parents and decide they want to hurt them such sick people

4:05 I remember watching this sad tragedy in my country's news since 2014. About 90% of those who died are teenagers who were still in their secondary school years and they would be my juniors of 5 years off my age. If you watched the Sewol documentary, you will notice the tragedy had robbed about 90% or more (less than 100%) of the students off some of the school classes and it is very heartbreaking to see flowers on each class table in those classes. I cannot imagine the pain and suffering of those students who had to walk into those classrooms every day, knowing that their friends were forever gone and dead as well. Those who failed those kids who believe in them should be hung for their crimes and that includes the captain of the ferry and 4:49, the former country president of that period. Supposedly, she was out of prison since last year I believe.

I will remember that day for the rest of my life. I couldn't believe what happened and the images were everywhere without any type of blur or warning. I watched so many of the videos before, during and after the tragedy that I could start to identify people by their costumes. I ended up with a lot of trauma, feeling depressed and anxious. I cannot image what the families went through with the amount of videos circulating.

The people is disgusting who come at the victims, shame on them, this has put a new light to me, but this has happened so many times. I can't believe going from victim to criminal or being abused because of the government

The government should be held accountable for Itaewon, Sewol Ferry, and the countless other tragedies resulting from corruption, blame-shifting, and incompetence.

Man... when she was hugging his clothes 🥺

After seeing how the families of the victims killed in the Sewol Ferry incident were treated I learned how little regard those with power have for human life. I hope these families can find peace and those sending such hateful and abusive words their way never find happiness. These abusers are comfortable acting this way because there’re no laws, services, or systems that actually protect victims.

Thank you SCMP for doing this follow up, it's hugely important for the media to continue shedding light on not just the incident but the aftermath. It's absolutely terrible that people are attacking the victims and their families. It's like how a young girl who survived the sewol ferry tragedy and lost her family was then bullied in school. Like it said in the video, the politisation of this tragedy just adds to the grief... So upsetting.

"Why should we mourn someone who went there to party?" ok, well, I hope all these mf have never partied, celebrated, or attended an event in their for them to feel the right to say such ridiculous things. What is wrong with people?

Mum and dad so consumed by grief, i hope they can find their solace

Those who ever say such harsh words will surely reap what they have sown.

It really pains my heart to see this. Mothers r the ones who bear the pain for 9 months, they will eat less but they will make sure her kids had their stomach filled. There r so many sacrifices which I can't mention. It's so emotional😢 May the victims soul rest in peace 🙏

Truly a bunch of sick fx out there. It's horrible enough to lose someone you love but have to endure more abuse from these sickos. There are a lot of depraved people in that society.

Tell that dad no suicide to keep fighting for justice for his son's death.

It hurts them so much already and due to mockery we cant imagine the pain they are going. My heart goes to all the victim of this tragedy.

This is life lesson to us.. losing our beloved is speechless sadness. Hope that the families can pull themselves together.. 😢

If I’m not mistaken, Lee Jihan was an upcoming actor. Before he left, he helped several people escape from the crowd. He’s a hero.

what jerks! I hope those trolls are delt with punishment of harassment

I love how the Korean parents still have political conscious and trying to find out what happened!

It's terrible because it's the same generation of young people that passed away unnecessarily

Seeing her hug her son’s clothes broke me.

May your broken hearts be healed. Amen.

*"silence in the face of evil is evil itself"* it could have been prevented when armed police / hundred police car had stopped or cordoned the crowd from entering the area there were a dozen reports to the police department that night prior to the deadly crowd crash, yet the police remained "silent" / "muted"

Is death and empathy a joke now? Do they enjoy being hated as much as they act hatful to others? Would they still laugh if they experienced the same pain as others went through?

There is no pain describable than losing one's children. In Solidarity with the Victim's family.

A lot of the survivors have committed suicide after the tragedy. They had survivor's guilt, PTSD, trauma, unprocessed grief, and of course pyschological wounds made worse with the online hate comments. As far as I know, at lest 5 people have done this. There are also a lot of relatives and close friends who have made this choice as well. My sister was one of the deceased in the Sewol ferry sinking accident. It broke my heart that another mass tragedy like this was allowed to happen

My sincere condolences for the loss of your son and the many other victims who lost their lives.

This does not surprise me. I've seen trolls do this to families before in other cases. It's crazy how the ability of being anonymous brings out the evil in many people.

You gotta be a whole new low life type of person to do something like that to those who are mourning their loved ones!

No parent should bury their child. Unfortunately, some of these parents, if not all, will never heal from this avoidable, horrible tragedy.

Prayers for those who lost their love ones on that tragic day. 🙏🙏

I hope the worst luck for those people attacking these grieving families.

Korean Netizen is vicious

I told the South Korean government this would happened in Yongsan. They didn’t listen, go to the CCTV. I told them everything.

RIP Jihan you were on your way to become a superstar. to me you already were one. you were gone too soon. my love, you are safe in the stars

😢❤ My heart goes out to all the families and friends ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ They will never be forgotten. Rip sweet souls.❤

As a son, this breaks my heart. I'm just imagining what if my mom was on that position... truly truly heartbreaking :(

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THEM WHO MOCKED A MOTHER WHO'S GRIEVING OVER HER CHILD !!???? THE BULLYS ARE MENTALLY SICK ! 🤬

I cried just watching & listening to their story. 🥹😢 Shame on those people who mocked them. Let us pray that justice will be served. 🙏

Imagine if people just listened to the shouters to stop and not move, a lot of lives would have been saved. RIP.

this is truly heartbreaking😢 i feel so bad for the people that didnt make it😢

Goes to show that in every society across the world there are human trash engaged in despicable behavior.

5:56 Soon as I saw that scene I bursted Out of the Blue I feel Very Bad for Lee Ji-Hang's Mother 💐💐💐May he and the Other Crowd Crushed Victims Reast in Peace💐💐💐

I'm lost for words. 😢😢😢. Only teary eyes and the disgust about how some people can be that heartless, evil to families who lost their sons, daughters.

The wound losing a loved one leaves a wound so deep, the emotional pain can not be made better with words. My heart hurts for them, I know that emotional pain, and to be victimized like this is so low.

the fact these trolls said why should mourn someone who went there to party is disgusting. I get that party at night can be dangerous BUT that doesn’t mean you hate on someone who died badly IN A CROWD! They didn’t know they were going to die they were there to have fun and have memories with their friends.