Suspicion of Chief Manipulating Arrival Times and Deleting Reports... "Yongsan Police Station, From Object of Envy to Public Enemy"

Investigation Targets Former Yongsan Police Chief Lee Im-jae, Intelligence Division Chief, and Intelligence Section Chief
Yongsan Police Burdened with Excessive Workload Since Presidential Office Relocation
About 300 Fewer Officers than Songpa Police Station... "Worked Hard but Feel Futile"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] 'Manipulation of the chief's on-site arrival time,' 'Suspicion of deletion of original reports.' The negligent response of the Yongsan Police Station in Seoul, which had jurisdiction over the Itaewon disaster area where 156 people died, has come under scrutiny. The Yongsan Police Station, whose status had risen sharply due to the presidential office's relocation to Yongsan, is now being pushed to the edge as a 'public enemy' within the police organization due to its inadequate response after the disaster.

According to the Itaewon Disaster Special Investigation Headquarters (Special Investigation Unit) on the 8th, on the 7th, the police changed the status of former Yongsan Police Chief Lee Im-jae, the head of the intelligence division, and the intelligence section chief of Yongsan Police Station to suspects. They are reportedly facing charges including professional negligence resulting in death or injury, dereliction of duty, abuse of authority, and evidence tampering.

Former Chief Lee was directing crowd control near the Yongsan Presidential Office on the 29th of last month when he received a report related to the Itaewon disaster around 9:47 p.m. and moved toward the Itaewon Police Substation by official vehicle. When the road near Noksapyeong Station was blocked, he did not walk to the Itaewon Police Substation but searched for a detour accessible by vehicle. Although the distance was about a 13-minute walk, the detour search delayed his arrival at the disaster site until 11:05 p.m. The Itaewon disaster occurred around 10:15 p.m.

There is also evidence that the former chief’s arrival time was manipulated. The Yongsan Police Station situation report recorded that former Chief Lee arrived at the scene at 10:20 p.m., just 5 minutes after the disaster occurred. This differs by 45 minutes from the actual arrival time. A police official stated, "Former Chief Lee will be summoned as soon as the preliminary investigation is completed."

He is also implicated in the deletion of intelligence reports that predicted safety accidents. Before the Itaewon disaster, the intelligence division of Yongsan Police Station had prepared several reports expressing concerns about safety accidents due to the crowd. After the disaster, these reports were all deleted from the internal network. The Special Investigation Unit is known to have identified through witness interviews that the reports stored on the computer of the report’s author were deleted and that there were attempts to influence witnesses. The head of the intelligence division at Yongsan Police Station only stated, "We will cooperate sincerely with the investigation."

Other departments directly or indirectly related to the Itaewon disaster, such as the 112 Comprehensive Security Situation Room and the Security Division, are also under inspection and investigation or may become subjects of investigation. A Yongsan Police Station official said, "Currently, police officers belonging to Yongsan Police Station are cautious as they may become subjects of investigation," adding, "Everyone is just watching each other carefully."

They dreamed of promotion and rewards with the presidential office relocation... "From the top to the abyss in an instant, it’s all so futile"

On the 16th, one day before President Yoon Suk-yeol's 100th day in office, the Presidential Office building in Yongsan-gu, Seoul is shown. President Yoon, emphasizing the elimination of authoritarianism, moved the seat of government from the former Blue House to Yongsan. With the president's office relocated to Yongsan, the Blue House has been fully opened to the public. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

When the presidential office relocated to Yongsan in May this year, the Yongsan Police Station welcomed it. Although the workload increased, they could earn many points in terms of promotion and rewards. In July, Kim Kwang-ho, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency chief, also visited Yongsan Police Station to commend the efforts of the Security and Intelligence divisions. During this process, there were frequent remarks that Yongsan Police Station, not Jongno Police Station which used to guard the Blue House, had become the primary police station.

However, the number of personnel at Yongsan Police Station was significantly low. They had to handle security around the presidential office, crowd control at rallies, and event management such as festivals, but as of August 15, the total number of police officers at Yongsan Police Station was only 784. This was only the ninth largest police station in Seoul in terms of personnel. The largest was Songpa Police Station with 1,067 officers.

Due to the low number of personnel, frontline officers suffered from excessive workloads. From May to July, the overtime hours under the name of 'office situation readiness' for police officers belonging to Yongsan Police Station were about 2,372 hours. Even before the Itaewon disaster, some officers at Yongsan Police Station were saying they needed to transfer to other police stations to avoid the excessive workload. A Yongsan Police Station official said, "After the Itaewon disaster, Yongsan Police Station fell into the abyss in an instant," adding, "The staff at Yongsan Police Station worked very hard this year, but now they are in a futile situation."

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