Special Investigation Unit Summons Witnesses Over Itaewon Disaster Even on Weekend

Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, Yongsan District Office, and Yongsan Health Center Targeted

At the entrance of the Mapo Police Station in Mapo-gu, Seoul, a signboard of the Itaewon Accident Special Investigation Headquarters (Special Investigation Unit) is displayed. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Noh Kyung-jo] The police special investigation headquarters (Special Investigation Headquarters) investigating the Itaewon disaster continued witness questioning over the weekend.

On the 19th, the Special Investigation Headquarters summoned employees from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, Yongsan District Office, and Yongsan District Public Health Center as witnesses to verify whether there were any prior safety management measures to prevent the accident and whether the on-site response was appropriate.

It is known that they confirmed the factual statements of Park Hee-young, Yongsan District Mayor, and Ryu Mi-jin, former Director of Personnel and Education at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (Senior Superintendent), who were questioned as suspects the previous day, and secured additional statements to support the charges.

Yoo Seung-jae, Deputy Mayor of Yongsan District Office, was also questioned as a witness on the same day. Deputy Mayor Yoo attended the Halloween safety measures meeting held at the district office on the 27th of last month in place of Mayor Park before the disaster.

The Special Investigation Headquarters is also preparing suspect interrogations for Lee Im-jae, former Chief of Yongsan Police Station (Senior Superintendent), and Choi Seong-beom, Chief of Yongsan Fire Station, scheduled for the 21st. Chief Choi is suspected of not taking additional measures after judging that dispatch was unnecessary despite the police’s joint response request following a 112 emergency call before the disaster occurred.

Former Chief Lee is accused of delayed response, arriving at the scene 50 minutes after the disaster occurred without taking prior measures despite reports recommending increased police personnel deployment during the Halloween period.

With these interrogations, the first round of summons for the main suspects who were all booked on the 7th of this month will conclude. The Special Investigation Headquarters plans to summon some suspects for further questioning if necessary.

The investigation into the alleged deletion of the Halloween risk analysis report is expanding from the Yongsan Police Station Intelligence Division to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s intelligence line. Former Director of Public Safety and Foreign Affairs at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, Park Seong-min (Police Commissioner), is also mentioned as a subject for summons. Former Yongsan Police Station Intelligence Chief Kim (Police Superintendent) was questioned as a suspect on the 15th.

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