<특수본>, Yoon Si-seung, Head of Security Department at Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, to be summoned as a witness tomorrow

Policy to Verify the Authenticity of Riot Police Requests

The signboard of the Itaewon Accident Special Investigation Headquarters (Special Investigation Unit), which is investigating the inadequate response to the 'Itaewon Disaster,' is hung at the entrance of the Mapo Police Station in Mapo-gu, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The Police Agency's Special Investigation Headquarters (Special Investigation HQ), which is investigating the Itaewon disaster, will summon Yoon Si-seung, head of the Security Division of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, as a witness for questioning on the 1st.

According to a compilation of reports from this outlet on the 30th, the Special Investigation HQ plans to summon Deputy Chief Yoon to the Special Investigation HQ interrogation room at the Mapo Office of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency the following morning to ascertain the facts regarding the Yongsan Police Station’s request for riot police during the Halloween period. Earlier, after filing charges of professional negligence resulting in death and injury against former Yongsan Police Chief Lee Im-jae on the 6th, the Special Investigation HQ has been conducting investigations into the related suspicions.

The controversy over the authenticity of the riot police request between the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency and Yongsan Police Station arose when former Chief Lee claimed at the National Assembly on the 16th that "before the disaster, a request was made to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency for the deployment of riot police, but it was rejected due to manpower shortages." However, it is reported that the Special Investigation HQ has not found any evidence of such a request in investigations conducted with personnel from both the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency and Yongsan Police Station. The Special Investigation HQ plans to determine the facts surrounding the riot police request and then decide who should be held responsible for the inadequate prior preparations.

Separately from the Yongsan Police Station’s riot police request, the Special Investigation HQ also confirmed that during internal discussions on Halloween response measures, Seoul Metropolitan Police Commissioner Kim Kwang-ho and Deputy Chief Yoon had a phone conversation indicating that deploying riot police in the Itaewon area was difficult due to issues related to crowd and protest security. Many have pointed out that if riot police had been pre-deployed at the scene during the disaster, the damage could have been reduced. The Special Investigation HQ intends to verify the details of this matter with Deputy Chief Yoon.