Two senior police officers detained in Itaewon crowd crush investigation

Two senior police officers have been detained for alleged professional negligence resulting in death regarding the Itaewon crowd surge, which killed 158 people including 26 foreigners.

Lee Im-jae, former head of the Yongsan Police Precinct, appears at the Seoul Western District Court on Friday to attend a hearing on his pre-trial detention warrant. [YONHAP]

Two senior police officers have been detained for alleged professional negligence resulting in death regarding the Itaewon crowd surge, which killed 158 people including 26 foreigners.

A local court on Friday issued pre-trial detention warrants for Lee Im-jae, former head of the Yongsan Police Precinct, and Song Byeong-ju, former head of the Yongsan Police Precinct’s 112 emergency hotline situation room.

112 is the emergency number used to contact police in Korea.

In explaining why the warrants were issued, Park Won-gyu, a judge at the Seoul Western District Court who made the decision, said in a statement that there was “significant” reason to believe that the suspects committed the crimes detailed in their pre-trial detention warrants.

Park also cited concerns that Lee and Song could destroy evidence.

It’s the second time that a special investigation team within the Korean National Police Agency investigating the Itaewon crowd surge has asked the court to issue detention warrants for the duo.

The first request was rejected earlier this month.

After the first warrants were rejected, the team re-investigated Lee and Song and added another charge for Lee, while highlighting that Song could destroy evidence.

The additional charge Lee faces is that he allegedly lied on official documents about the time he arrived on the scene of the tragedy, claiming he arrived 48 minutes earlier.

Both Lee and Song were suspended from their posts in the wake of the Itaewon tragedy.

The issuing of the detention warrants marks a significant achievement for the investigation team probing the Itaewon crowd surge nearly two months after they launched the high-profile investigation.

On Monday, the Seoul Western District Court is set to hold a hearing to decide whether to issue a pre-trial detention warrant for Park Hee-young, head of the Yongsan District Office.

A hearing will also be held the same day to determine whether to detain Choi Won-jun, head of the Yongsan District Office’s Safety & Disaster Division.

The hearing for Yongsan chief Park was originally set to be held last Friday but was postponed after she tested positive for Covid-19.

In the coming days, the investigation team said it will request the court to issue a pre-trial detention warrant for Choi Seong-beom, head of the Yongsan Fire Department.

In the warrants for all three suspects, the police said they either described or were planning to describe allegations of professional negligence resulting in death.

The head of the Yongsan District Office’s Safety & Disaster Division will be tried on an added charge of dereliction of duty.

BY LEE SUNG-EUN, LEE CHANG-HOON [lee.sungeun@joongang.co.kr]