"Yongsan Health Center Director Has Never Visited the Site Individually on the Day of the Disaster"

The Day's Movements in the Prosecution's Indictment
Leaving Home Around 11:25 PM
False Judgment of "Arriving at the Scene at 11:30 PM"

Choi Jae-won, director of Yongsan Public Health Center, was investigated and found not to have individually visited the accident site on the day of the Itaewon disaster. The prosecution concluded that his claim of arriving at the accident site for medical command purposes but being unable to enter and returning to Yongsan District Office was false.

On the 10th, the indictment submitted to Park Beom-gye, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, by the Ministry of Justice, detailed Director Choi’s whereabouts on the day of the disaster last year. According to the indictment, Director Choi left his home at around 11:25 p.m. on the day of the disaster (October 29 last year), about 30 minutes after receiving the situation report of the Itaewon area from the Central Emergency Medical Situation Room of the National Medical Center.

Choi Jae-won, Director of Yongsan-gu Public Health Center Photo by Yonhap News

Afterwards, Director Choi took the subway and got off at Noksapyeong Station at around 11:46 p.m., then moved to Yongsan District Office. He arrived at the district office duty room at around 11:54 p.m., put on a civil defense uniform top, and then rode an ambulance with the rapid response team staff from Yongsan Public Health Center who were on standby. They arrived at the scene at around 12:06 a.m. the next day (October 30).

Previously, Director Choi had stated that he arrived individually at the scene around 11:30 p.m. on the day of the disaster and directed medical operations. This information was also included in internal reports of the district office. However, the prosecution judged that the report was falsified under Director Choi’s instructions. The prosecution’s assessment is that the false report was created by exploiting the fact that the responsible staff did not know the exact time of Director Choi’s arrival at the scene.

After testimonies emerged that he was not seen at the scene at that time, Director Choi changed his statement to say, "I arrived near Itaewon Station at 11:30 p.m. but could not enter and returned to the district office, then came to the scene with the rapid response team." It was revealed that when the responsible staff reported the 'On-site Emergency Medical Center Operation Log' with this revised content, Director Choi approved it as is.

On the afternoon of October 29 last year, a crowd gathered in the Itaewon-dong area of Yongsan-gu, Seoul, for Halloween, resulting in an accident. In the early hours of the 30th, 119 rescue workers dispatched to the accident site, where Fire Department Response Level 3 was declared, are conducting rescue operations for the victims. [Image source=Yonhap News]

The prosecution concluded that although Director Choi did not arrive at the scene around 11:30 p.m. on the day of the disaster, he entered and used false information in a total of five electronic documents in the Seoul electronic document system in this manner. The prosecution indicted Director Choi last month on charges of forgery of official electronic records and use of forged official electronic records.

The first trial for Director Choi is scheduled for the 28th at the Seoul Western District Court, Criminal Division 1, presided over by Chief Judge Kang Seong-su. Director Choi’s side is expected to state whether they admit to the charges composed by the prosecution at the first hearing.

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