Seoul Police Chief Kim Gwang-ho Facing Double Hardships... Special Investigation Unit Recalled Him After Four Days

Kim Kwang-ho, Commissioner of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, is entering the building on the morning of the 2nd to appear for suspect questioning at the Itaewon Disaster Special Investigation Headquarters of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in Mapo-gu, Seoul.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The Special Investigation Headquarters (SIH) of the National Police Agency, which is investigating the Itaewon disaster, is summoning Kim Gwang-ho, the Chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, for questioning again on the 6th. This is four days after his first summons on the 2nd.

According to a compilation of our coverage, the SIH summoned Chief Kim to the investigation room at the Mapo Office of the Seoul Police Agency on the morning of the day to verify the measures taken before and after the disaster as the person responsible for security and policing during the Halloween period. They are also reportedly questioning why the decision was made not to deploy the riot police to Itaewon before Halloween.

According to the SIH, Chief Kim, who is the overall person responsible for security in Seoul, is suspected of recognizing the situation on the day of the disaster late and exacerbating casualties due to delayed response. Previously, Chief Kim appeared before the SIH on the 2nd and was questioned for about 10 hours. At that time, he reportedly denied the charges.

The SIH is currently investigating the appropriateness of the handling of 112 emergency calls and relief measures on the day of the disaster with Chief Kim. He first became aware of the disaster situation at 11:36 p.m. on October 29, 1 hour and 21 minutes after the incident, upon receiving a report from former Yongsan Police Station Chief Lee Im-jae. On that day, after managing assembly control duties at the Seoul Police Agency office, he was at his home in Gangnam-gu and missed several calls from former Chief Lee.

The SIH also confirmed that during internal discussions on Halloween response plans, Chief Kim and Yoon Si-seung, the head of the Security Department of the Seoul Police Agency, had a phone conversation stating that it was difficult to deploy the riot police to the Itaewon area due to issues with assembly and protest security. There are many criticisms that if the riot police had been deployed on-site in advance during the disaster, the damage could have been reduced. The SIH plans to verify the circumstances with Chief Kim.

To confirm the decision-making process within the Seoul Police Agency regarding the deployment of the riot police, the SIH summoned Deputy Director Yoon as a witness on the 1st for investigation. If it is judged that Deputy Director Yoon also bears responsibility for neglecting safety measures, he will be registered as a suspect together.

The SIH plans to review whether legal responsibility can also be imposed on Police Commissioner Yoon Hee-geun, Chief Kim’s superior, once Chief Kim’s criminal charges are sufficiently proven. An SIH official said regarding the possibility of Commissioner Yoon being registered as a suspect, "We will keep all possibilities open and investigate."

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

After receiving inspection materials from the National Police Agency’s Special Inspection Team, the SIH changed Chief Kim’s legal status to that of a suspect on the 1st. It is reported that Chief Kim has continued to work normally even after being registered as a suspect. After the first investigation on the 2nd, he returned to the office and directed security operations while monitoring the Qatar World Cup street cheering situation.

Among the police suspects registered by the SIH due to the Itaewon disaster, Chief Kim is the only one continuing to perform his duties. Former Chief Lee Im-jae, former Public Safety Information and Foreign Affairs Department Head Park Seong-min (Senior Superintendent), former Personnel and Education Division Head Ryu Mi-jin, and former Yongsan Police Station Intelligence Division Head Kim Jin-ho have all been placed on standby and are under investigation by the SIH.

The National Police Agency, which holds personnel authority, has not taken any separate measures against Chief Kim as of this day. This contrasts with the immediate standby orders given to former Chief Lee and others after their registration as suspects, citing "difficulty in normal duty performance." As a result, Chief Kim is burdened with the dual hardship of undergoing SIH investigation while simultaneously overseeing overall security in Seoul.

Moreover, with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) holding large-scale rallies nationwide to sustain the momentum of the Cargo Solidarity strike (collective transport refusal), Chief Kim’s responsibilities as the person in charge of Seoul’s security have become even heavier. Concerns have been raised that if the SIH investigation prolongs, it could lead to a security vacuum in Seoul.

The SIH investigation lost some momentum after the court rejected the arrest warrants for former Chief Lee and others the previous day. Judge Kim Yu-mi of the Seoul Western District Court, responsible for warrants, rejected half of the arrest warrants requested by the SIH on the 1st for four police executives including former Chief Lee. This has put a brake on the SIH’s plan to conduct detention investigations of key suspects and expand the investigation scope to higher-ups. Inside and outside the police expect the investigation of Chief Kim to take longer than initially anticipated.

The SIH expressed respect for the court’s decision and stated that it will decide whether to reapply for warrants later. While analyzing the reasons for the warrant rejection, the SIH plans to continue investigations by summoning, in addition to Chief Kim, the Director of Safety and Construction Bureau of Yongsan District Office and Choi Jae-won, Director of Yongsan District Public Health Center, as suspects on the day.