Yongsan Police Chief and Situation Room Head Arrested in 'Itaewon Disaster'

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Hyun-seok] Lee Im-jae, former Yongsan Police Station Chief (Senior Superintendent), considered a key suspect in the Itaewon disaster, was detained on the 23rd. Song Byung-joo, former head of the 112 Situation Room at Yongsan Police Station (Police Superintendent), who was in charge of the initial on-site response to the disaster, was also detained.

Since the launch of the Police Special Investigation Headquarters (Special Investigation HQ) on the 1st of last month, these are the first suspects directly responsible for the disaster to be detained.

The Special Investigation HQ had previously detained two senior officials from Yongsan Police Station and the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s intelligence division on the 5th of this month on charges of instructing evidence destruction. However, the so-called 'Halloween Risk Analysis Report Deletion Suspicion' involving them was far removed from the cause or fact-finding of the disaster.

Park Won-gyu, the chief judge in charge of warrants at the Seoul Western District Court, conducted the pre-arrest suspect interrogation (warrant review) for these individuals on the day and issued detention warrants for all, stating, "There is substantial reason to suspect that a crime was committed, and there is concern that the suspects may destroy evidence."

Judge Park explained, "I considered the additional evidence collected after the previous warrant request was dismissed, along with various evidence shown in the investigation records and the results of the warrant review."

The former police chief was subject to a second detention warrant request on the 20th on charges of causing death or injury by professional negligence for failing to prepare and respond appropriately before and after the Itaewon disaster, which increased casualties, and for falsifying official documents by reviewing but not correcting a situation report that falsely recorded his arrival time at the scene.

Former Superintendent Song faces charges of causing death or injury by professional negligence for failing to take appropriate safety measures, such as pushing the crowd that spilled onto the roadway back onto the sidewalk despite 112 emergency calls warning of the risk of crushing just before the disaster. He is also accused of delaying rescue efforts by failing to report to his superior, former Chief Lee, in a timely manner and inadequately controlling the scene.

The Special Investigation HQ initially applied only the charge of causing death or injury by professional negligence against them and requested detention warrants on the 1st of this month, but all were dismissed.

Since then, the evidence and legal grounds supporting their charges have been strengthened, and the charge of falsifying official documents was additionally applied to former Chief Lee. On the day of the disaster, October 29th, he arrived at the Itaewon police substation near the accident site at 11:05 p.m. However, the Yongsan Police Station situation report recorded his arrival as 10:17 p.m., 48 minutes earlier than the actual time.

With the Special Investigation HQ securing the custody of these police officers responsible for on-site response after a second attempt, the investigation, which had been at a standstill for some time, is expected to accelerate again.

The possibility has also opened for a full-scale expansion of investigations into higher authorities, including local disaster management agencies such as Yongsan District Office and Yongsan Fire Station, as well as Seoul City Hall and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.

Based on the supplementary investigation results, the court judged that the charges of causing death or injury by professional negligence against frontline police officers were substantially proven. The Special Investigation HQ considers that, under the Disaster and Safety Management Act, local governments bear the primary responsibility for disaster preparedness and relief, thus holding heavier charges than the police. The Special Investigation HQ has already requested detention warrants for Park Hee-young (61), head of Yongsan District Office, and Choi Won-jun, head of the Safety and Disaster Division at Yongsan District Office.

Like the detained Yongsan Police Station officials, they face charges of causing death or injury by professional negligence. Division head Choi is also charged with dereliction of duty for deliberately neglecting necessary measures to manage the disaster aftermath.

The decision on their detention will be made after the warrant review scheduled for 2 p.m. on the 26th.

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