Special Investigation Unit Conducts 14-Hour Intensive Interrogation of Park Hee-young, Yongsan District Mayor, Regarding 'Itaewon Disaster'

Chief Superintendent Ryu Mijin Also Exceeds 8 Hours

Yongsan District Mayor Park Hee-young is appearing on the morning of the 18th at the Special Investigation Headquarters for the Itaewon incident in Mapo-gu, Seoul, to be questioned as a suspect. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The Police Agency’s Special Investigation Headquarters (SIH), investigating the Itaewon tragedy, conducted intensive interrogations late into the night targeting Park Hee-young, Yongsan District Mayor, and Ryu Mi-jin, Senior Superintendent.

On the 18th, starting from 10 a.m., the SIH summoned Park Hee-young, Yongsan District Mayor, as a suspect on charges of professional negligence causing death and injury, and questioned her until nearly midnight. Upon arriving at the SIH office in Mapo, Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, Park said, “I will sincerely cooperate with the investigation.” She was booked on the 7th for allegedly neglecting to prepare safety measures to prevent accidents in the Itaewon area during Halloween and for inadequately responding to the tragedy.

On the same day, from around 4 p.m., the SIH summoned Senior Superintendent Ryu Mi-jin, who was working as the situation manager at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on the day of the tragedy, and interrogated him for over eight hours. When entering the SIH, Ryu only apologized in response to reporters’ questions such as “Do you admit responsibility for working outside the situation room?” and “What was the reason for the delayed report to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency?” Ryu is accused of dereliction of duty for leaving his assigned post at the Seoul Police 112 Comprehensive Situation Room on the day of the tragedy and failing to promptly report the incident to the Chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.

Meanwhile, the SIH plans to summon former Yongsan Police Station Chief (Senior Superintendent) Lee Im-jae on the 21st for questioning. Regarding Lee’s claim that “initial response was not possible due to two refusals to deploy the riot police and omission of on-site situation reports,” the SIH stated, “It has been confirmed that requests to deploy the traffic riot police were made twice,” but added, “Statements from staff differ, so the investigation is ongoing.” The SIH intends to decide on Lee’s legal status after completing the investigation next week.