Seoul's police chief has been charged with professional negligence for the deadly stampede on Halloween that left nearly 160 people dead in the center of the city on October 29, 2022, the prosecutor's office in the southern capital announced. Korean Friday.
Kim Kwang-ho, the head of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, was charged with professional negligence resulting in injury or death.
On the evening of Saturday, October 29, 2022, tens of thousands of people, mostly in their 20s and 30s, were out enjoying the post-pandemic celebrations in Itaewon, a cosmopolitan neighborhood in Seoul.
The evening turned tragic when a crowd of revelers found themselves trapped in a sloping bottleneck between lanes of bars and nightclubs.
More than 150 people died in the stampede.
Also read “People were filming the bodies and dancing alongside”: the story of a French woman trapped in the crowd in Seoul
Charged without detention
Kim Kwang-ho "
failed to take necessary measures, such as deploying sufficient police forces and ensuring proper command and supervision
" on the day of the disaster, although he was able to "foresee the potential dangers arising” from the presence of too large a number of people, explains the press release from the prosecution.
Kim Kwang-ho, the highest-ranking police official facing justice for the tragedy, was charged without detention.
In January 2023, he and 22 other officials from the police, emergency services and district offices were referred to the prosecution by a special police investigation for their alleged role in government mismanagement of this tragedy.
Also read: Halloween drama in Seoul: how can a crowd cause so many deaths?
Prosecutors indicted the police chiefs of Yongsan district, which includes the Itaewon neighborhood, and the district city hall, but had not made a decision for more than a year regarding Mr. Kim.
The latter “
along with the Yongsan police chief and the director of Yongsan City Hall, who are currently on trial, collectively caused the death of 158 individuals and the injuries of 312 individuals due to professional negligence
.”
The victims' families said they regretted the long delay before the decision to charge Kim Kwang-ho.
“
Chief Kim must immediately leave office and be brought to justice
,” the families called in a statement.
President Yoon Suk Yeol must fire Kim immediately.
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