The Ministry of the Interior Unaware of 112 Reports... Delayed Response Compared to Yoon Due to "Difficulty in Answering"

112 Calls Not Received by Ministry of the Interior and Safety Situation Room
Minister Lee Sang-min Notified 20 Minutes Later Than President Yoon
Gaps Found in Reporting and Command Systems Between Ministry and Police
National Police Agency Excluded from Reporting Agencies Under Disaster and Safety Management Act
Emergency Texts from Ministry Not Sent to Minister Lee Sang-min's Phone

Kim Seong-ho, Director of the Disaster and Safety Management Headquarters at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (Chief Coordinator of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters), is announcing the main discussion points of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters related to the Itaewon incident on the morning of the 3rd at the briefing room of the Government Sejong Complex.

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] It has been revealed that the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's Disaster Safety Situation Room does not have a system in place to receive 112 emergency calls. The emergency text message sent by the Ministry, which was deemed a 'Level 2 Situation,' was also not directly delivered to Minister Lee Sang-min's mobile phone.

At the briefing of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters on the 3rd, Kim Seong-ho, head of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's Disaster Safety Management Headquarters, stated, "The minister received the accident situation on-site at 11:20 PM. It was information reported by the fire department."

Kim said, "We still do not have a system in place to receive matters related to 112, and I think that part is insufficient. Since the National Police Agency is not a reporting agency under the Disaster and Safety Management Act, a legal amendment is required, and we will consult with the National Police Agency on this matter," he responded.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety stated that when information related to 119 is received by the Disaster Safety Situation Room, it is classified into fire department levels 1, 2, and 3 and disseminated to related agencies, but 112 calls are not received by the situation room. Despite 11 reports being received via 112 from 6:34 PM on the day of the accident, the Ministry was completely unaware.

The first time the fire department received the accident report was at 10:15 PM when the 119 call was first received; the Ministry's situation room received it at 10:48 PM, and it was delivered to the minister at 11:20 PM. The situation room operates a system that classifies incidents by stages, so after fire department Level 2 was declared, the emergency text was sent to the secretariat, and there was no direct report to the minister during this process. The minister and vice ministers were excluded from the recipients of the Level 2 emergency text message, so the information was conveyed through secretariat staff.

Kim explained, "When the fire department classifies the situation as Level 1 and reports it to the situation room, the Ministry's situation officer classifies it into Levels 1 to 4 and sends emergency texts to related agencies and recipients by rank. Level 2 is disseminated to vice ministers and staff. In the process of delivering information by stage, the minister was reported to only after Level 2 was declared."

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety determines the situation level considering the scale of the disaster and the fire department's response level: Level 1 is for directors and section chiefs, Level 2 for heads of relevant offices and vice ministers' secretariats, Level 3 for ministers, vice ministers, and senior officials above section chief, and from Level 4, direct reporting to ministers and vice ministers occurs. Immediately after this tragedy, the situation officer declared 'Level 2 Situation' and delivered it to the vice ministers' secretariat.

Kim Seong-ho, Director of the Disaster and Safety Management Headquarters at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (Chief Coordinator of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters), is announcing the main discussion points of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters related to the Itaewon incident on the morning of the 3rd at the briefing room of the Government Complex Sejong.

Regarding the fact that Minister Lee received the accident report 19 minutes later than the president, Kim said, "It is difficult to provide a specific answer."

The Fire Department Situation Room reported the accident details to the Presidential Office's National Situation Room at 10:53 PM, 38 minutes after the accident occurred. The National Situation Room chief reported the accident to President Yoon at 11:01 PM.

Lee Il, director of the Fire Department 119 Response Bureau, explained, "When the Fire Department reports to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, they simultaneously contact related ministries. I understand that the report was made to the Presidential Office during that process."

With the Ministry of the Interior and Safety establishing the Police Bureau and being granted authority to manage and supervise the police organization, the command and reporting system did not function. This implies that the Ministry is not free from responsibility for the inadequate management and supervision of the police, as well as the accident response.

Kim said, "Depending on the investigation results, those responsible will be held accountable according to the degree of responsibility."

Hwang Chang-seon, the National Police Agency's Security Situation Manager, said, "The special investigation headquarters formed this time will operate very independently, and a strict investigation will be conducted on all subjects regardless of their rank or position in the command chain, including field personnel."

Regarding whether the investigation into the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency related to this tragedy will be handled by the Minister of the Interior and Safety or the Police Bureau, Kim responded, "I understand that the Minister of the Interior and Safety cannot command or intervene in investigations of individual and specific cases."

Meanwhile, regarding whether there were any similar reports received before the first 119 call at 10:15 PM, Lee Il, director of the Fire Department 119 Response Bureau, stated, "As far as we have checked, there have been none so far."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.