Itaewon Police Station CCTV... Became a Decisive Blow After Former Yongsan Chief's Arrest

Former Yongsan Police Chief Lee Im-jae (Senior Superintendent), who was arrested on the 23rd for inadequate response to the Itaewon disaster [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] It was reported on the 25th that the internal CCTV footage of the Itaewon Police Substation on the day of the Itaewon disaster, secured by the Police Agency's Special Investigation Headquarters (Special Investigation Unit) investigating the disaster, played a decisive role in the arrest of former Yongsan Police Station Chief Lee Im-jae.

The footage captured the scene of former Chief Lee watching in real-time as a situation report was being written inside the substation on the day of the disaster. Although former Chief Lee arrived at the substation around 11:05 PM that day, the report recorded the arrival time as 10:17 PM, immediately after the disaster. Based on the video, the Special Investigation Unit concluded that former Chief Lee was aware of the entire process of falsifying the situation report and re-applied for an arrest warrant on charges of falsifying and using false official documents.

The footage also reportedly showed former Chief Lee receiving a situation report via phone from former Yongsan Police Station 112 Situation Room Chief (Police Superintendent) Song Byung-joo around 10:32 PM that day. Former Chief Lee testified at the National Assembly on the 16th of last month that he became aware of the situation related to the Itaewon disaster around 11 PM, but this evidence contradicts that statement. The Special Investigation Unit judged that former Chief Lee had a risk of evidence destruction based on the fact that he gave false testimony about the time he became aware of the situation to both the National Assembly and investigative agencies.

The court accepted the Special Investigation Unit's supplementary investigation and issued arrest warrants for former Chief Lee and Superintendent Song on the 23rd. At the time, Judge Park Wan-gyu, head of the arrest warrant division at the Seoul Western District Court, who conducted the pre-arrest interrogation (warrant review) of the suspects, stated the reason for issuance: "Considering the additional evidence collected and various evidence shown in the investigation records, there is substantial reason to suspect the suspects committed the crime, and it is recognized that there is a risk of evidence destruction by the suspects."

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