<기사제목>Special Investigation Unit Re-summons Kim Kwang-ho, Seoul Police Chief, 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.
[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 Kim Gwang-ho, the Chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, again for questioning on the 6th. This comes four days after the first summons on the 2nd.

According to a compilation of our coverage, the Special Investigation HQ plans to summon Chief Kim to the investigation room at the Mapo Office of the Seoul Metropolitan 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, on charges of professional negligence resulting in death and injury. They also intend to question the reasons for not deploying the riot police to Itaewon before Halloween.

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

The Special Investigation HQ plans to investigate the overall appropriateness of the handling of 112 emergency calls and relief measures on the day of the disaster with Chief Kim. Kim first became aware of the disaster situation at 11:36 p.m. on the 29th of last month, 1 hour and 21 minutes after the incident, upon receiving a report from former Yongsan Police Station Chief Lee Im-jae. On that day, Kim was managing assembly control duties at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency office and was at his home in Gangnam-gu, missing several calls from former Chief Lee.

Additionally, the Special Investigation HQ confirmed that during internal discussions on Halloween response measures, Chief Kim and Yoon Si-seung, the Head of the Security Department of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, had a phone conversation stating that deploying the riot police to the Itaewon area was difficult due to issues related to assembly and protest security. There have been many criticisms that if the riot police had been deployed on-site in advance during the disaster, the damage could have been reduced. The Special Investigation HQ plans to verify the details of this with Chief Kim.

To confirm the decision-making process within the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency regarding the deployment of the riot police, the Special Investigation HQ summoned Deputy Chief Yoon as a witness for questioning on the 1st. If Deputy Chief Yoon is also found responsible for neglecting safety measures, he will be registered as a suspect together.

The Special Investigation HQ plans to review whether legal responsibility can also be imposed on Police Commissioner Yoon Hee-geun, Kim's superior, once the criminal charges against Chief Kim are sufficiently proven. A Special Investigation HQ official stated regarding the possibility of Commissioner Yoon being registered as a suspect, "We will keep all possibilities open during the investigation."