Special Investigation Targeting 'Upper Echelons'... Kim Kwang-ho, Seoul Police Chief, Summoned (Comprehensive Report 2)

Indicted on Charges of Negligent Homicide in the Line of Duty
Plan to Verify Measures Taken Before and After the Disaster
Kim Kwang-ho "Will Cooperate Fully with the Investigation"

Kim Kwang-ho, Commissioner of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, is appearing at the Mapo Office of the Seoul Police Agency, where the Special Investigation Headquarters (Special Investigation Unit) investigating the Itaewon disaster is located, on the 2nd to undergo suspect questioning. Photo by Oh Gyu-min

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The Police Agency's Special Investigation Headquarters (Special Investigation HQ), which is investigating the Itaewon disaster, summoned Kim Gwang-ho, the Commissioner of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, as a suspect for questioning on the 2nd. With the sudden summons of Commissioner Kim, a top police official, evaluations are emerging that the investigation targeting the 'upper echelon' has officially begun.

On the morning of the same day, the Special Investigation HQ summoned Commissioner Kim, who is accused of professional negligence resulting in death and injury, to the Special Investigation HQ interrogation room at the Mapo Police Station in Seoul to verify the measures taken before and after the disaster as the person responsible for security and policing during the Halloween period. Upon arriving at the Special Investigation HQ, Commissioner Kim told reporters, "As I said at the National Assembly on the 7th of last month, I will sincerely cooperate with the investigation without hiding or adding anything." He did not respond to reporters' questions about whether he acknowledged the charges and entered the interrogation room.

Earlier, the Special Investigation HQ reportedly changed Commissioner Kim's status from a witness to a suspect based on materials secured through searches and testimonies from related parties. The disciplinary materials on Commissioner Kim handed over by the Police Agency's Special Inspection Team on the 28th of last month are also said to have served as grounds for changing his legal status to that of a suspect.

As the person ultimately responsible for security in Seoul, Commissioner Kim is accused of recognizing the situation late on the day of the disaster and exacerbating casualties due to delayed response. It is known that Commissioner Kim first became aware of the situation at 11:36 p.m., 1 hour and 21 minutes after the accident, upon receiving a report from former Chief Lee. He then took a taxi to the accident site, but by that time, a large number of casualties had already occurred. The Special Investigation HQ plans to verify the circumstances and details of the situation with Commissioner Kim.

The Special Investigation HQ also plans to question whether Commissioner Kim received requests for riot police deployment from former Yongsan Police Station Chief Lee Im-jae and others before the Halloween festival. Former Chief Lee has claimed that he requested support from the Seoul Police Agency's relevant department for riot police deployment during Halloween, but Commissioner Kim has denied this. The Special Investigation HQ has also stated that it has not confirmed any such requests from Yongsan Police Station's riot police during its investigations so far.

Separately from the Yongsan Police Station's riot police request, the Special Investigation HQ confirmed that during internal discussions on Halloween response plans, Commissioner Kim and Yoon Si-seung, the head of the Seoul Police Agency's Security Department, had a phone conversation stating that deploying riot police in the Itaewon area was difficult due to issues related to crowd and protest security. Many have pointed out that if riot police had been pre-deployed at the scene during the disaster, the damage could have been reduced. The Special Investigation HQ plans to verify the details of this matter with Commissioner Kim.

Furthermore, the Special Investigation HQ is expected to investigate whether Commissioner Kim was involved in the alleged deletion of a risk analysis report during the Halloween period. Although no evidence of his involvement has been confirmed so far, the Special Investigation HQ intends to keep all possibilities open during the investigation. Regarding this allegation, the Special Investigation HQ applied for arrest warrants yesterday for former Seoul Police Agency Public Safety Information and Foreign Affairs Division Chief Park Seong-min (Police Commissioner) and former Yongsan Police Station Intelligence Section Chief Kim (Police Superintendent) on charges of instructing evidence destruction.

Previously, the Special Investigation HQ applied for pre-arrest warrants for four police executives, including former Commissioner Park and former Chief Lee. With the sudden summons of Commissioner Kim on this day, evaluations inside and outside the police are that the Special Investigation HQ's investigation is gaining momentum. In particular, since Commissioner Kim is the highest-ranking police officer to be booked since the Special Investigation HQ was launched, there is talk that the investigation has officially begun to target the 'upper echelon.'

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