Teenage suicide officially recognized as Itaewon crowd crush death

South Korea on Tuesday counted a death of a teenager, who survived in the aftermath of Itaewon crowd crush but later took his own life in December, in its official death toll.

This pushed the Itaewon disaster death toll up to 159.

The Ministry of Interior and Safety said bereaved families of the victim will be eligible for the same state support such as a financial relief as other victims.

"The Ministry has decided to recognize a person who suffered an injury from Itaewon disaster and later made a tragic choice as a victim (of Itaewon crowd crush) as there was a direct causal relationship (between the event and his death), based on the opinions of legal and medical experts," read the Interior Ministry's statement.

This came a month after the high school student, whose name remains undisclosed, was found dead on Dec. 13 in an apparent suicide in a lodging facility in Mapo-gu, Seoul. He lost two of his friends from the disaster in late October. His death sparked a controversy over the lack of treatment of survivors' mental health.

Later in December, the teenager's bereaved family was quoted as saying by Basic Income Party lawmaker Rep. Yong Hye-in that he "was severely distressed but was not given mental treatment before the death," calling for a counting of a death caused by trauma as the death toll.

Meanwhile, a special police unit is looking to finalize its probe on the disaster by mid-January. In the latest development of the probe, the special team sent the already-arrested Yongsan-gu Ward office chief Park Hee-young to prosecutors Tuesday. Park is one of the highest-ranking officials detained in the wake of the disaster, along with Lee Im-jae, former chief of the Yongsan Police Station.