Decision to Grant Bail to Police Informant in 'Itaewon Report Deletion' Case

"Having a Family and Stable Residence Justify Bail Approval"

The decision on whether to grant bail to the police intelligence officers who were arrested and indicted on charges of ordering the deletion of internal reports related to the Itaewon Halloween Festival will be made next week.

Former Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Public Safety Information and Foreign Affairs Division Chief Park Seong-min is entering the Seoul Western District Court on December 5 last year. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

The Criminal Division 11 of the Seoul Western District Court (Chief Judge Bae Seong-jung) held a bail hearing on the 14th for Park Seong-min, former head of the Public Safety Intelligence and Foreign Affairs Department at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, and Kim Jin-ho, former intelligence officer at Yongsan Police Station, who are accused of instructing the destruction of public electronic records and evidence tampering. The court stated, "We will carefully decide on the bail. The decision will be made sometime next week."

The defense attorneys for both individuals requested the court to grant bail, arguing that they have fixed residences and occupations, and thus there is no risk of flight. Park’s defense argued, "This is a wrongful indictment due to a misunderstanding of the meaning of police intelligence and information," and added, "The defendant has no evidence to destroy, maintains a normal household, and has a fixed residence, providing substantial grounds for bail."

Kim also requested bail release on the same day, appealing, "I will never destroy evidence, especially to protect my family with young children," and emphasized, "Protecting my family is more important than the trial."

Both are accused of ordering the deletion of four intelligence reports, including the 'Itaewon Halloween Festival Public Safety Risk Analysis' report by the Yongsan Police intelligence officer and three Specific Information Request (SRI) reports, in preparation for the police investigation immediately following the Itaewon disaster.

Meanwhile, bail applications for Park Hee-young, former mayor of Yongsan District, and Choi Won-jun, former head of the Safety and Disaster Management Division of Yongsan District Office, who were indicted in connection with the Itaewon disaster, were granted on the 7th.

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