Former Yongsan Police Chief Lee Im-jae "Requested Mobile Unit Twice Before Itaewon Disaster"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] Former Yongsan Police Chief Lee Im-jae claimed on the 16th that he requested the deployment of a riot police unit to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency as a safety measure before the Itaewon tragedy occurred, but the request was denied due to a lack of personnel.

On the same day, Lee appeared as a witness at the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee plenary session and responded to the question, "Did you request the deployment of a riot police unit to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency to maintain order at the Itaewon Halloween festival?" by saying, "I requested it twice."

He added, "I instructed the relevant department to request the most efficient riot police unit related to the Halloween festival, and the staff member made a support request to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's relevant department."

Lee also stated, "However, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency responded that support was difficult due to many rallies and demonstrations on that day," and "The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency reviewed the riot police support again but reported that support was difficult because of the rallies and demonstrations."

He said, "I judged that a trained riot police unit was the most efficient for managing the large crowd and safety management," and "There was also a fact that we requested a riot police unit not only for the Halloween festival but also for the previously held Global Village Festival."

Regarding why he did not directly request the deployment of the riot police unit to Chief Kim and other commanders, he said, "At that time, Seoul Metropolitan Police Chief Kim reviewed it again but decided it was not possible due to a shortage of personnel to prepare for rallies and demonstrations, according to the report I received."

He explained that the reason why Yongsan Police Station did not deploy personnel for rally and demonstration preparedness as Halloween safety personnel on its own was because the operation of the riot police unit was not within his authority. Former Chief Lee claimed, "The operation of the riot police unit is not the authority of the station chief but the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency has overall operational authority," and "Looking back now, such measures were much needed, but the deployment of the riot police unit was a difficult matter for me to decide."

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