Yongsan District Mayor Park Hee-young Investigated as Suspect... Superintendent Ryu Mi-jin to Be Questioned in the Afternoon (Comprehensive)

Ministry of the Interior and Safety and Seoul City Also Raided
Former Yongsan Police Chief Summoned on the 21st

Yongsan District Mayor Park Hee-young is appearing on the morning of the 18th at the Special Investigation Headquarters for the Itaewon incident in Mapo-gu, Seoul, to be questioned as a suspect. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy reporters Seongpil Jo and Gyumin Oh] The Police Agency's Special Investigation Headquarters (Special Investigation HQ), investigating the Itaewon disaster, is accelerating suspect interrogations. Having also launched compulsory investigations targeting the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and Seoul City, there is analysis that the investigation is expanding to higher-level institutions.

According to a comprehensive report from our coverage, the Special Investigation HQ summoned Park Hee-young, the Yongsan District Mayor, on the morning of the 18th at 10 a.m. for questioning as a suspect on charges of professional negligence causing death and injury. Upon appearing at the Special Investigation HQ located at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Mapo building, Park said, "I will sincerely cooperate with the investigation." Park was booked on the 7th on charges of neglecting to prepare safety accident prevention measures in the Itaewon area during the Halloween period and responding inadequately to the disaster.

The Special Investigation HQ has conducted searches and seizures at Yongsan District Office and held witness interviews with district office employees. Park was also subjected to a travel ban on the 11th. On this day, the Special Investigation HQ is expected to question Park about whether proper safety measures were established during the Halloween period and what actual duties were performed, based on materials secured through searches and witness statements.

It is also a subject of inquiry what role Park played in April this year when the Yongsan District Council enacted the so-called "Dance Permission Ordinance" (an ordinance concerning the operation of general restaurants in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, where dancing is permitted). The ordinance allowed general restaurants to have sound equipment and permit customers to dance, which may have led to businesses in the area operating like clubs on the day of the disaster, potentially increasing the damage.

On the same day in the afternoon, the Special Investigation HQ will summon Chief Superintendent Ryu Mi-jin, who served as the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Situation Manager on the day of the disaster, for questioning. Ryu is accused of dereliction of duty for leaving the designated workplace?the Seoul Police 112 Integrated Situation Room?and failing to promptly report the accident to the Seoul Police Commissioner. The Special Investigation HQ, based on witness interviews so far, has judged that Ryu’s delayed report was not the direct cause of the large-scale casualties due to disruption of rescue operations.

On the afternoon of the 17th, an official from the police special investigation headquarters (Special Investigation Headquarters) investigating the Itaewon disaster was seen coming out with materials secured from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's Disaster Safety Management Headquarters, Disaster Response Policy Division, and Social Disaster Response Policy Division at the Government Sejong 2 Complex in Sejong City.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

The day before, the Special Investigation HQ deployed 65 investigators to simultaneously conduct searches and seizures at 22 locations across three institutions: the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Seoul City, and the Seoul Metropolitan Autonomous Police Committee. This was the first compulsory investigation targeting higher-level institutions responsible for disaster and safety management and police and fire command and supervision. The Special Investigation HQ reportedly secured about 3,700 items of documents and electronic files related to disaster safety measures through the searches. They plan to summon and interrogate related persons sequentially after analyzing the materials.

In particular, the Special Investigation HQ intends to determine, through the secured materials, whether the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and Minister Lee Sang-min bear legal responsibility for the disaster and safety management and the police’s improper response. Minister Lee has already been booked as a suspect by the Special Investigation HQ following a complaint from the National Public Officials Labor Union Fire Agency branch. However, since the charge of dereliction of duty against Minister Lee falls under the jurisdiction of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), it remains uncertain whether the Special Investigation HQ will conduct a full investigation. Kim Dong-wook, spokesperson for the Special Investigation HQ, said at a briefing that "the complaint against Minister Lee was reported to the CIO yesterday."

The Special Investigation HQ plans to summon former Yongsan Police Chief (Chief Superintendent) Lee Im-jae on the 21st for questioning. Regarding Lee’s claim that "requests for deployment of the riot police were refused twice and initial response was not made due to omission of on-site situation reports," spokesperson Kim said, "It has been confirmed that requests for deployment of the traffic riot police were made twice," but added, "Statements from staff differ, so the investigation is ongoing." The Special Investigation HQ plans to decide on Lee’s legal status after completing the investigation next week.

Earlier, on the 15th, the Special Investigation HQ summoned Kim, a former information section chief at Yongsan Police Station, who was booked on suspicion of deleting a risk analysis report during the Halloween period. The Special Investigation HQ reportedly also questioned the information section chief and section head at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency the day before regarding this suspicion. The Special Investigation HQ plans to summon Park Sung-min, former head of the Public Safety Information and Foreign Affairs Division at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (Senior Superintendent), as a witness soon in connection with this suspicion.

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