Was There Discussion of Passing the Buck to Higher-Ups?…Police Chief Says "No Unfair Investigation Orders Related to Itaewon"

In response to allegations that he exchanged Telegram messages with government officials immediately after the Itaewon disaster to evade responsibility, Yoon Hee-geun, Commissioner of the National Police Agency, denied the claims, stating, "There was no instruction to evade police responsibility in the investigation."

Minister of the Interior and Safety Sang-min Lee and Commissioner General Hee-geun Yoon of the National Police Agency are taking the oath as witnesses at the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee audit on the 26th.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

At the comprehensive audit of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety by the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee on the 26th, Assemblyman Chun Jun-ho of the Democratic Party of Korea cited media reports and questioned that around 12:40 a.m., someone sent a Telegram message to Commissioner Yoon saying, "The police should take the lead in a swift investigation and clearly assign safety responsibility to officials at the district mayor level or higher to establish a clear initial direction." Assemblyman Chun said that Commissioner Yoon replied to the message with "Understood."

In response, Assemblywoman Kwon In-sook of the Democratic Party said, "This appears to be a clear order from a superior," to which Commissioner Yoon replied, "If the person is somewhat senior to me, regardless of rank, it is customary to respond with 'Understood.'"

When Assemblyman Chun asked whether the sender of the message was the President, the Presidential Office, or Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min, Commissioner Yoon said he did not remember but answered "No" to all.

Assemblyman Chun further questioned that around 3 a.m., Commissioner Yoon sent messages to two senior officials stating, "There are too many casualties, so responsibility might be discussed somewhere," and "Our agency's measures must be reported in real-time to the President (V) and others."

Commissioner Yoon responded, "At that time, instructions were first given to mobilize maximum personnel to quickly rescue the site and manage traffic and rescue operations," adding, "Since issues regarding cause or responsibility would naturally arise afterward, I instructed a swift investigation before any evidence could be destroyed."

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