Arrest Warrants Requested for Former Yongsan Police Chief, Yongsan District Mayor, and 2 Others (Update)

The signboard of the Itaewon Accident Special Investigation Headquarters (Special Investigation Unit), which is investigating the inadequate response to the 'Itaewon tragedy,' is hung at the entrance of the Mapo Police Station in Mapo-gu, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The Special Investigation Headquarters (SIH) of the National Police Agency, which is investigating the Itaewon disaster, has filed detention warrants with the court for key suspects including former Yongsan Police Station Chief Lee Im-jae. This is expected to be a critical turning point that will determine the success or failure of the SIH's investigation, which has continued for over 50 days.

On the 20th, the SIH announced that it had applied for detention warrants for five individuals: former Chief Lee, former Yongsan Station 112 Situation Room Chief (Police Superintendent) Song Byung-joo, Yongsan District Office officials including District Mayor Park Hee-young, Director of Safety, Construction and Transportation Moon In-hwan, and Disaster Safety Division Chief Choi Won-jun. The SIH added charges of falsification and use of false official documents to the existing charges of professional negligence resulting in death or injury against former Chief Lee. The others, including Mayor Park, face charges of professional negligence resulting in death or injury. Division Chief Choi was additionally charged with dereliction of duty.

The Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office filed the detention warrants with the Seoul Western District Court this afternoon, specifying these charges. However, the warrant for Director Moon was rejected, with the SIH being asked to conduct supplementary investigations.

Previously, on the 1st, the SIH had applied for detention warrants against former Chief Lee and others on charges of professional negligence causing injury, but the court dismissed the application. Since then, the SIH has conducted a comprehensive reinforcement investigation and proceeded to reapply for detention warrants, adding charges of falsification and use of false official documents against former Chief Lee. The SIH also reviewed the necessity of detention and the possibility of warrant issuance for three senior officials from Yongsan District Office, including Mayor Park.

If the warrants are dismissed again, the SIH is likely to face criticism for insufficient investigative capability. So far, the only suspects the SIH has detained and sent for prosecution are two police officials involved in the 'information report deletion suspicion,' leading to inevitable criticism that investigative efforts were wasted on matters unrelated to the core of the disaster.

Conversely, if the warrants are issued, the legitimacy of the SIH's investigation, which has been questioned until now, will be somewhat secured. Furthermore, following the initial detention of key suspects, investigations into higher-ups such as Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min and Seoul Police Chief Kim Kwang-ho, which have been postponed, are expected to accelerate.

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