Despite Massive Deployment of Criminal Personnel... Late Recognition Leads to On-Site Redeployment After 33 Minutes

On the morning of the 30th of last month, ambulances gathered at the Halloween accident site in Itaewon, Yongsan-gu, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] On the day of the Itaewon disaster, despite the police deploying a large number of detectives near the scene, the recognition of the accident was delayed, and it was only after 33 minutes that a redeployment for rescue activities took place.

According to data submitted by the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency to the Democratic Party's Itaewon Disaster Countermeasures Headquarters on the 6th, the time when the detective personnel deployed in the Itaewon area first recognized the accident was identified as 10:44 AM, 29 minutes after the accident occurred. The police explained, "The primary duties of the detective personnel deployed at the time were not crowd control or maintaining order, but the prevention and crackdown of drug-related crimes." In fact, they were performing duties related to drug crime prevention, and after receiving a support request, they were redeployed to the scene around 10:48 AM to participate in rescue activities.

According to the police document titled "Special Detective Activities for Drug Crime Crackdown and Prevention during Halloween Day Festival," the number of detective personnel deployed in the Itaewon area on the day of the accident (10 teams, 52 people) was greater than in Hongdae (7 teams, 37 people). The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Drug Crime Investigation Unit, which specializes in drug crimes, was deployed only in Itaewon. The police planned a drug crackdown focusing on patrolling areas around clubs, restrooms, and staircases?places where drug use is easy?before Halloween, and stated that if drug users were caught, they would thoroughly investigate the complicity charges of suppliers and related club personnel.

In fact, at 10:15 PM, when the disaster occurred, the detective teams responsible for drug crackdowns were receiving work-related training from the Yongsan Police Station detective chief and were waiting to be deployed to the scene. The police wrote in the document, "During the Halloween period, major arrest cases by each station will be actively publicized," outlining future plans. However, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced that, after collecting data on the number of drug-related arrests from the detective teams working on the day of the disaster, there were no records of any crackdown achievements.

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