South Korea's National Assembly Extends Itaewon Crush Probe Mandate

SEOUL, Sept. 3 (Yonhap) -- The National Assembly on Thursday passed a bill extending the mandate of a special committee investigating the deadly Itaewon crowd crush in 2022.

The bill was approved in a 220-5 vote with six abstentions during a plenary session at the National Assembly.

Under the bill, the committee's mandate will be extended until Sept. 16 next year to continue its investigation into the crowd accident that killed 159 people during Halloween festivities in the central Seoul district in October 2022.

The Itaewon crowd crush has prompted criticism over a lack of effective crowd control measures and response measures.

In July, the special committee released a report suggesting that more lives could have been saved had more active rescue efforts been made immediately after the accident.

The Assembly also approved a motion to donate 3 percent of all lawmakers' monthly allowances for September to help relief efforts for flood victims in Nepal.

It also passed a revision to the National Intelligence Service Act that expands the scope of the spy agency's duties to include economic security and broadens its intelligence gathering to cover suspected hacking activities.