Former Yongsan Police Chief Iimjae Arrested for the Second Time... "I Feel Sorry"

Appearing in Court for Detention Hearing
Charged with Negligent Homicide and Forgery of Official Documents
Decision on Detention Expected Late Tonight

Former Chief Lee Im-jae of Yongsan Police Station / Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy reporters Seongpil Cho and Taewon Choi] Former Yongsan Police Chief Lee Im-jae (Senior Superintendent) and former Yongsan 112 Situation Room Chief Song Byung-joo (Police Superintendent), who are accused of inadequate response to the Itaewon disaster, faced a second detention hearing on the 23rd. Their detention decision is expected to be made as early as late that night.

Former Chief Lee arrived at the Seoul Western District Court at around 9:50 a.m. to attend the pre-arrest suspect interrogation (warrant hearing). He told the waiting press, "As the chief at the time of the disaster, I am very sorry and deeply regretful," adding, "I will sincerely and truthfully participate in the warrant hearing." Superintendent Song reportedly entered the courtroom through another entrance to avoid the press.

The warrant hearing began at 10:30 a.m. under the presiding of Judge Park Wan-gyu, who is in charge of warrants at this court. Initially, Judge Kim Yu-mi, another warrant judge at the same court, was scheduled to handle all warrant hearings this week. However, considering that this is a reapplication case for former Chief Lee and others, Judge Park was assigned to the hearing, according to the court. Previously, on the 5th, Judge Kim dismissed the first warrant application against former Chief Lee and Superintendent Song, which only included charges of professional negligence causing death and injury.

The Police Agency’s Special Investigation Headquarters (Special Investigation Unit), investigating the Itaewon disaster, conducted a comprehensive supplementary investigation on former Chief Lee and added charges of falsifying and using false official documents to the existing professional negligence causing death and injury charges, applying for a second arrest warrant. The Special Investigation Unit concluded that former Chief Lee reviewed the situation report falsely stating that he arrived at the scene 48 minutes earlier than he actually did on the day of the disaster but did not correct it.

Superintendent Song is accused of failing to take appropriate safety measures, such as pushing the crowd that spilled onto the road back onto the sidewalk despite 112 emergency calls warning of the risk of crushing just before the disaster. He is also charged with delaying rescue efforts by inadequately controlling the scene and failing to report to his superior, former Chief Lee, in a timely manner. The warrant hearings for Yongsan District Mayor Park Hee-young and Yongsan District Safety and Disaster Division Chief Choi Won-jun, who were also included in the warrant applications, will be held at 2 p.m. on the 26th. Although the hearings were originally scheduled for that afternoon, the court rescheduled them considering Park’s COVID-19 diagnosis and quarantine period.

If the Special Investigation Unit’s warrant applications are dismissed again, it will be difficult to avoid criticism of insufficient investigative capability. So far, the only suspects the unit has sent for detention are two police officials involved in the "information report deletion suspicion," which is unrelated to the core of the disaster, leading to criticism of wasted investigative resources. Conversely, if the warrants are granted, the legitimacy of the Special Investigation Unit’s investigation, which has been questioned, will be somewhat secured. Furthermore, investigations into higher-ups such as Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min and Seoul Police Chief Kim Kwang-ho, which have been postponed since the first round of suspect detentions, are expected to accelerate.

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