Bereaved family members of those who lost their lives in the Itaewon Halloween tragedy marched in the streets of Seoul on Saturday in protest of President Yoon Suk Yeol's decision to shoot down a special bill authorizing a new probe into the deadly crowd crush in October 2022.

The family group and civic groups from across the country held a joint press conference in front of a memorial for Itaewon victims in Jung-gu, central Seoul, decrying the president for his decision Tuesday to send the bill back to the National Assembly. The bill was boycotted by nearly all members of the ruling People Power Party, but was initially passed unilaterally by the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, which holds a majority in the parliament.

"We will hold responsibility in the government and the ruling party for being arrogant and irresponsible, for ignoring and neglecting the people," 10.29 Itaewon Disaster Bereaved Families, a group comprising the families of 97 of those killed in the tragedy, said in a statement.

The protestors hoisted 159 banners with messages demanding the probe, with each representing one of the 159 lives lost in the 2022 tragedy. The banners were tied at the fence near Gwanghwamun Plaza and Seoul City Hall, where the protestors marched.

The bereaved families' plan initially had been to hold marches to the presidential office every Saturday until Feb. 24, but police rejected their request based on a legislative revision banning rallies on major roads in Seoul, including roads in front of Yoon's office. The group filed charges against the police decision and the Seoul Administrative Court on Saturday accepted the group's complaint, saying there is no evidence to prove such marches would cause grave damage to the public’s interest.

The court, however, restricted the number of protestors to 1,000.

Regardless of the court decision, the bereaved families decided not to march toward the presidential office on Saturday due to concerns of colliding with pro-government groups holding rallies in support of Yoon in the adjacent area.

The special bill stipulates a plan for a probe by an independent investigative committee into the disaster, along with a plan to compensate and support those victimized by the Itaewon tragedy and their bereaved families, covering financial compensation, reimbursement of funeral costs and psychological support.

But the ruling party has accused the opposition of using the bill to as a means to launch a political attack against the president, questioning its fairness over the clause on forming the new investigation committee that allows the Democratic Party to name seven of the 11 members. The bill states that the ruling and the opposition parties can each recommend four members, while the remaining three are to be recommended by the parliamentary speaker, who is currently a member of the majority main opposition.