Court Denies Detention Review for Park Hee-young, Yongsan District Mayor, in 'Itaewon Disaster' Case

Park Hee-young, the Yongsan District Mayor, who is accused of professional negligence causing death and injury related to the Itaewon disaster, is attending the pre-trial detention hearing at the Seoul Western District Court in Mapo-gu, Seoul, on December 26 last year. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Taewon] Park Heeyoung, the mayor of Yongsan District (62), who is accused of inadequately responding to the Halloween period disaster, requested the court to reconsider his detention, but the request was denied.

According to the legal community on the 6th, the Criminal Division 12 of the Seoul Western District Court (Chief Judge Andongbeom) held a detention review for Mayor Park on the 4th and dismissed his request on the same day. The specific reasons for the dismissal have not been disclosed. Accordingly, Mayor Park is expected to undergo further investigation while in detention before being brought to trial.

Earlier, Mayor Park was detained by the Special Investigation Headquarters of the National Police Agency on December 26 last year on charges of negligence resulting in death or injury (professional negligence) for neglecting to prepare safety accident prevention measures during the Halloween period and inadequately responding to the disaster. Subsequently, Mayor Park was handed over to the prosecution on the 3rd and reportedly filed a detention review request with the court on the same day.

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