Former Seoul Police Chief of Intelligence Park Seong-min Appears at Special Investigation Unit... "Will Respond Sincerely to Investigation"

Allegations Against Teacher Suspected of Deleting Information Report

Park Sung-min, former head of the Public Safety Information and Foreign Affairs Division at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, is appearing on the 24th at the Mapo Police Station in Seoul, where the Special Investigation Headquarters of the National Police Agency investigating the Itaewon disaster is located, to undergo suspect questioning. / Photo by Oh Gyu-min

[Asia Economy Reporters Seongpil Cho, Gyumin Oh] Park Seongmin, former Public Safety Information Foreign Affairs Division Chief (Police Commissioner) of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, who is implicated in the suspicion of deleting a risk analysis report during the Halloween period, appeared on the 24th as a suspect before the Special Investigation Headquarters (Special Investigation Unit) of the National Police Agency investigating the Itaewon disaster.

Commissioner Park arrived at the Mapo Office of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, where the Special Investigation Unit is located, around 10 a.m. that day and told reporters, "I will respond sincerely to the investigation." He entered the building without answering questions about when he became aware of the report or whether he admitted the charges. This is the first time a police senior officer at the commissioner level or higher has been summoned to the Special Investigation Unit regarding the Itaewon disaster. Commissioner Park is scheduled to observe the digital forensic investigation of the previously seized mobile phones in the morning and then undergo questioning from the afternoon.

According to the Special Investigation Unit, Commissioner Park is suspected of instructing the deletion of the information report "to prepare for inspection and seizure" in a chatroom involving information chiefs of frontline police stations after the disaster. The report titled "Itaewon Halloween Festival Public Safety Risk Analysis" reportedly included phrases such as "pedestrians entering the road due to large crowds, traffic inconvenience reports, and concerns about traffic accidents." The Special Investigation Unit believes that Kim, a former Yongsan Police Station information chief, effectively persuaded staff to delete the report under Commissioner Park's instructions and has applied charges of evidence destruction inducement against him. The Special Investigation Unit plans to question Commissioner Park about the circumstances of the report deletion on this day.

The Special Investigation Unit is also considering the possibility that the report deletion was carried out under orders from higher-ups. Kim Dongwook, spokesperson for the Special Investigation Unit, said at a briefing the previous day, "So far, we have not found any evidence that higher-ups ordered Commissioner Park to delete the report." The Special Investigation Unit is expected to further investigate the existence of higher-level involvement during this inquiry. Additionally, the Special Investigation Unit plans to confirm with Commissioner Park when he became aware of the report. If Commissioner Park knew of the report's existence and judged it to be problematic before issuing the deletion order in the messenger chatroom, it could be seen as intentional evidence destruction.

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