'Poor Response to Disaster' Former Yongsan Police Chief and Yongsan District Mayor to Attend Warrant Hearing on 23rd

Former Yongsan Police Chief Lee Im-jae is getting into a vehicle after being questioned at the Itaewon Accident Special Investigation Headquarters in Mapo-gu, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 11th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporters Seongpil Cho, Taewon Choi] The decision on whether to detain former Yongsan Police Chief Lee Im-jae and Yongsan District Mayor Park Hee-young, who are accused of inadequate response to the Itaewon disaster, is expected to be made on the 23rd.

The Seoul Western District Court announced on the 21st that the pre-arrest detention hearings (warrant hearings) for former Chief Lee and Song Byung-joo, head of the Yongsan Police 112 Situation Room, will be held at 10:30 a.m. on the 23rd. The warrant hearings for Mayor Park and Choi Won-jun, head of Yongsan District Office’s Safety and Disaster Division, who were also subject to arrest warrants, are scheduled for 2 p.m. on the same day.

The hearing dates may change depending on the circumstances of the suspects. However, a court official stated, "There have been inquiries about some suspects testing positive for COVID-19, but nothing has been confirmed yet." If the hearings proceed as scheduled, the hearing for former Chief Lee will be conducted by Judge Park Wan-gyu, who is in charge of warrants at this court, and the hearing for Mayor Park and others will be handled by Judge Kim Yu-min, also in charge of warrants. The decision on detention is expected late that night.

Earlier, the Police Agency’s Special Investigation Headquarters (Special Investigation Unit) investigating the Itaewon disaster applied for arrest warrants for five people, including former Chief Lee and Mayor Park, on the 19th. The Seoul Western District Prosecutors’ Office rejected the warrant for Moon In-hwan, Director of the Safety, Construction, and Transportation Bureau, but filed warrants for the other four the day before.

The Special Investigation Unit added charges of falsifying and using false official documents to former Chief Lee’s existing charges of professional negligence causing death and injury in the warrant. For Police Superintendent Song and Mayor Park, charges of professional negligence causing death and injury were specified. For Director Choi, in addition to professional negligence causing death and injury, charges of dereliction of duty were also included.

According to the Special Investigation Unit, former Chief Lee is accused of failing to take appropriate measures before and after the disaster, which increased casualties. He is also accused of falsely recording the time of arrival at the scene. Superintendent Song is accused of failing to take proper safety measures, such as pushing the crowd that spilled onto the roadway back onto the sidewalk, despite a 112 emergency call warning of the risk of crushing just before the disaster.

Mayor Park is accused of neglecting to prepare safety accident prevention measures during the Halloween period and responding inadequately to the disaster. The Special Investigation Unit considers the charges against the local government, which has primary responsibility for disaster preparedness and relief under the Disaster and Safety Management Basic Act, to be more serious than those against the police. Based on this judgment, it is reported that arrest warrants were also applied for Director Choi, who is responsible for practical operations.

Previously, on the 1st, the Special Investigation Unit applied for arrest warrants for former Chief Lee and Superintendent Song on charges of professional negligence causing injury, but the court dismissed them. The Special Investigation Unit then conducted a comprehensive supplementary investigation, added charges of falsifying and using false official documents against former Chief Lee, and proceeded with reapplying for the arrest warrants. They also reviewed the necessity of detention and the possibility of warrant issuance for executives affiliated with Yongsan District Office, including Mayor Park.

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