It was belatedly revealed that the woman and her teenage son, who wailed in front of actor Jung Woo Sung at the Itaewon memorial site, were not the bereaved family of the surge victims.
Seoul Yongsan Police Station booked a woman and her teenage son on charges of fraud for pretending to be the bereaved family of the Itaewon disaster, at Samgakji Station of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway.
The two individuals reportedly claimed to be the mourning family at the memorial site and received clothes, cash, and meals. Reports say that the two even approached Jung Woo Sung on November 10th, who visited the memorial space at Itaewon. According to reports, they claimed to be one of the victim’s family and cried in front of him, saying, “I lost my son here, can you please hold my hand.”
이태원 참사 현장 방문해 추모한 정우성 pic.twitter.com/CuwBKfaeju
— 💙유미💙 (@kkommi6) November 10, 2022
Their fraudulent acts were uncovered when the government released the list of the surge victims. The volunteers who gathered to help the victims’ families found out that their names were not on the list and referred them to the police. At the police station, the two reportedly admitted to the charges and said, “We did it because we were starving and had no money.”
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