6 suspects now pinpointed in Itaewon probe

Regarding the Itaewon disaster on Oct. 29, the special investigation police division has now pinpointed six figures as suspects, including Lee Im-jae, former chief of the Yongsan Police Station, and Ryu Mi-jin from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, for alleged professional negligence resulting in death.

The special investigation division, launched last week, has been looking into the causes behind the incident and the response of authorities.

"We have probed 154 people and brought in six figures as suspects," Kim Dong-wook, spokesperson for the team, said at a briefing Monday.

The six suspects include former police chief Lee, Ryu, who was in charge of the situation room of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency at the time of the incident, two officials from the intelligence team at Yongsan Police Station, Yongsan-gu District Chief Park Hee-young and Yongsan Fire Chief Choi Seong-beom.

All six suspects face the allegation of professional negligence resulting in death. Ryu and Lee could be additionally charged with dereliction of duty, while officials from the intelligence team could be additionally accused of the charges for abuse of authority and destruction of evidence.

According to the special investigation team, Lee, who was chief of the Yongsan Police Station when the incident happened, left a restaurant located near the station at 9:47 p.m. after being notified of the ongoing situation in Itaewon.

Lee was in his car and arrived near Noksapyeong Station some 10 minutes later. With heavy traffic on the main street of Itaewon, Lee continued by car and tried to make a detour to approach the scene of the incident.

He got out of the car at around 10:55 p.m. and arrived at the scene of the incident at 11:05 p.m.

Comparably, the distance from Noksapyeong Station to Itaewon Station can be reached in approximately 10 minutes by foot. Additionally, nearby closed-circuit footage showed Lee upon arrival walking with his hands clasped behind his back.

The special investigation division is looking into why Lee chose to continue by car and whether he properly carried out his duties from the car in giving on-scene commands. It will also look into why the Yongsan Police Station first reported that Lee had arrived at the scene at around 10:20 p.m.

The team is also looking into why the Yongsan Police Station deleted its internal report written a few days before the incident, which suggested concern of a possible safety accident in Itaewon during the Halloween period.

Intelligence officials wrote a report calling for more support out of concern of a possible safety accident happening in Itaewon as crowds were expected to gather in the area during the Halloween weekend.

The team’s investigation into data collected through a raid conducted on Wednesday, however, showed the head of the intelligence team ordered the officials to delete details, and eventually ordered the deletion of the initial report after the incident occurred.

With some of the police officials related to the tragedy being charged as suspects, Kim Kwang-ho, chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Agency, issued an official apology on Monday, acknowledging the lack of proper police response related to the incident.

“I feel the responsibility in that the response of the police in Seoul was insufficient,” Kim said in a written statement. “I will cooperate with the inspection and probe of the National Police Agency by all means.”

Kim said he became aware of the incident at 11:36 p.m. after more than an hour had passed.

“The notification from the scene and the Yongsan Police Station chief were delayed,” Kim said. “We are checking the issues in our notification system and chain of command through the investigation (ran by the special investigation team).”

Yongsan-gu District Chief Park Hee-young’s whereabouts on the day of the incident are also being questioned.

The district office said Park visited her hometown in South Gyeongsang Province and returned to Seoul at about 8 p.m. on the day of the crowd surge. After returning to Seoul, Park looked around Quy Nhon Street in Itaewon, some 130 meters from the scene of the incident, twice at around 8:20 p.m.

However, doubts have been raised as to Park's diligence in inspecting the area, as the street she patrolled was nearby her home. Local reports showed that Park left a message in a chat saying she was worried about the crowds in Itaewon with no further action.

Regarding the Itaewon disaster on Oct. 29, the special investigation police division has now pinpointed six figures as suspects, including Lee Im-jae, former chief of the Yongsan Police Station, and Ryu Mi-jin from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, for alleged professional negligence resulting in death.

The special investigation division, launched last week, has been looking into the causes behind the incident and the response of authorities.

"We have probed 154 people and brought in six figures as suspects," Kim Dong-wook, spokesperson for the team, said at a briefing Monday.

The six suspects include former police chief Lee, Ryu, who was in charge of the situation room of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency at the time of the incident, two officials from the intelligence team at Yongsan Police Station, Yongsan-gu District Chief Park Hee-young and Yongsan Fire Chief Choi Seong-beom.

All six suspects face the allegation of professional negligence resulting in death. Ryu and Lee could be additionally charged with dereliction of duty, while officials from the intelligence team could be additionally accused of the charges for abuse of authority and destruction of evidence.

According to the special investigation team, Lee, who was chief of the Yongsan Police Station when the incident happened, left a restaurant located near the station at 9:47 p.m. after being notified of the ongoing situation in Itaewon.

Lee was in his car and arrived near Noksapyeong Station some 10 minutes later. With heavy traffic on the main street of Itaewon, Lee continued by car and tried to make a detour to approach the scene of the incident.

He got out of the car at around 10:55 p.m. and arrived at the scene of the incident at 11:05 p.m.

Comparably, the distance from Noksapyeong Station to Itaewon Station can be reached in approximately 10 minutes by foot. Additionally, nearby closed-circuit footage showed Lee upon arrival walking with his hands clasped behind his back.

The special investigation division is looking into why Lee chose to continue by car and whether he properly carried out his duties from the car in giving on-scene commands. It will also look into why the Yongsan Police Station first reported that Lee had arrived at the scene at around 10:20 p.m.

The team is also looking into why the Yongsan Police Station deleted its internal report written a few days before the incident, which suggested concern of a possible safety accident in Itaewon during the Halloween period.

Intelligence officials wrote a report calling for more support out of concern of a possible safety accident happening in Itaewon as crowds were expected to gather in the area during the Halloween weekend.

The team’s investigation into data collected through a raid conducted on Wednesday, however, showed the head of the intelligence team ordered the officials to delete details, and eventually ordered the deletion of the initial report after the incident occurred.

With some of the police officials related to the tragedy being charged as suspects, Kim Kwang-ho, chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Agency, issued an official apology on Monday, acknowledging the lack of proper police response related to the incident.

“I feel the responsibility in that the response of the police in Seoul was insufficient,” Kim said in a written statement. “I will cooperate with the inspection and probe of the National Police Agency by all means.”

Kim said he became aware of the incident at 11:36 p.m. after more than an hour had passed.

“The notification from the scene and the Yongsan Police Station chief were delayed,” Kim said. “We are checking the issues in our notification system and chain of command through the investigation (ran by the special investigation team).”

Yongsan-gu District Chief Park Hee-young’s whereabouts on the day of the incident are also being questioned.

The district office said Park visited her hometown in South Gyeongsang Province and returned to Seoul at about 8 p.m. on the day of the crowd surge. After returning to Seoul, Park looked around Quy Nhon Street in Itaewon, some 130 meters from the scene of the incident, twice at around 8:20 p.m.

However, doubts have been raised as to Park's diligence in inspecting the area, as the street she patrolled was nearby her home. Local reports showed that Park left a message in a chat saying she was worried about the crowds in Itaewon with no further action.

By Im Eun-byel (silverstar@heraldcorp.com)