Lee Sang-min’s False Explanation Revealed by the 112 Reports Delayed Authorities from Uncovering the Truth

A Visit to the Joint Memorial Center: President Yoon Suk-yeol pays his respects to the victims along with Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min (left) at the joint memorial center set up in Seoul Plaza on the morning of November 2. Office of the President press photographers

“The crowd wasn’t so large as to cause particular concern.” “It wasn’t a problem that we could solve by assigning police officers beforehand.”

These were the words of the Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min in the government’s first official press briefing on October 30, the day after the Itaewon Halloween crowd crush. His words implied that the tragedy was a natural disaster that the state or the police could not prevent. Meanwhile, he also said, “The police force was dispersed because of disturbances and demonstrations throughout downtown Seoul.” On October 31, the Office of the President defended the interior minister and said, “The police do not have legal and institutional authority to pre-emptively restrain citizens when there is no request from the organizer.”

However, a review of the eleven 112 calls right before the tragic incident confirmed that the explanations by Minister Lee and the presidential office were all wrong. At the time, such a large crowd had gathered in Itaewon that it was indeed a cause of alarm, and if the government had assigned police officers to the site prior to the incident, they could have prevented the disaster. At the time, there was an extreme jam, and the police did have the legal and institutional authority to pre-emptively control the people. And now, Minister Lee and the Office of the President are under fire for rushing to deny government responsibility without even a basic fact check.

On the morning of November 1, President Yoon Suk-yeol received a belated report of the 112 reports, which disclosed the sluggish response by the police on the day of the accident. Only then did the Office of the President, which had defended the police and Minister Lee, say, “President Yoon responded with anger and instructed his officials to handle the matter strictly according to law and principles.” The interior minister also apologized for his statement when giving a report on pending issues before the Public Administration and Security Committee at the National Assembly on Tuesday.

According to the public data from the Seoul metropolitan government, at 10 p.m. October 29, around the time of the crowd crush, up to 57,340 people had gathered in Itaewon.

On Saturday, the number of daily users of Itaewon Station on the Seoul Metro Line 6 also set a record high. The number of people using Itaewon Station was around 100,000 during the Halloween events in 2018-2019 prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, but this year, the number soared to over 130,000. “Compared to the past, the crowd in Itaewon wasn’t so large as to cause particular concern.” Lee’s claim turned out to be different from fact.

The explanation by the presidential office, that the police had no legal authority to restrain the citizens when there is no demonstration or rally, was also different from fact. The Act on the Performance of Duties by Police Officers grants police officers the authority to intervene and take appropriate action in situations of extreme chaos or congestion even without a report or request. The interior minister’s explanation that there was a lack of police officers because they were assigned to various demonstrations held throughout Seoul on the day of the accident was also not true.

Hong Ki-hyun, director of public order management at the National Police Agency said in a meeting with the press on October 31, “Most of the demonstrations held during the day on Saturday ended before 9 p.m.” He further said, “The latest incident occurred after 10 p.m. so there was a time difference in the order of events.”

Minister Lee came under fire for claiming there was no problem in the placement of police officers and had to give an explanation the next day, October 31.

Minister Lee Sang-min met with the press after visiting the joint memorial center for the victims of the Itaewon tragedy set up at Seoul Plaza that day and said, “The number of participants in the festival increased 30% from 80,000-100,000 to 130,000 this year, and we also increased the number of police officers by 40% to over 130.” But among the officers assigned to Itaewon only 58 were officers in uniform in charge of maintaining order. The others were in plain clothes to crack down on drug users.

The government’s attitude, busy denying responsibility without verifying the basic facts, shortly after the crowd crush also had an impact on the police investigation. At 12:52 a.m. October 30, two and a half hours after the incident, the National Police Agency announced, “We will set up an investigation headquarters at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency and check facts, such as any responsibility of the local government and event organizers concerning safety measures.” The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency and the Yongsan Police Station, which contributed to the disaster with their poor initial response, were not even mentioned as subjects of the investigation.

On November 2, one police official said, “The internal inspection by the police was somewhat delayed because the government first drew the line claiming there was no problem with the police.”