'COVID-19 Positive' Park Hee-young, Yongsan District Mayor... Warrant Review Rescheduled to 26th (Comprehensive)

Interrogation of Former Yongsan Police Chief and Others to Proceed as Scheduled

Park Hee-young, Mayor of Yongsan District Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporters Seongpil Cho, Taewon Choi] The pre-trial detention hearings (warrant hearings) for two Yongsan District Office officials, including District Mayor Park Hee-young, who are accused of inadequate response to the Itaewon disaster, have been postponed to next week due to Mayor Park’s COVID-19 diagnosis.

The Seoul Western District Court announced on the 21st afternoon, "Considering Mayor Park’s quarantine period following his COVID-19 diagnosis, the scheduled warrant hearing has been rescheduled to 2 p.m. on the 26th." The hearing for Choi Won-jun, Head of the Safety and Disaster Management Division at Yongsan District Office, who is also facing the warrant hearing alongside Mayor Park, has likewise been postponed. The warrant hearings for Mayor Park and Head Choi were originally scheduled to be held at 2 p.m. on the 23rd under Judge Kim Yumi, who is in charge of warrants at this court.

However, the warrant hearings for former Yongsan Police Chief Lee Im-jae and Yongsan Police 112 Situation Room Chief (Police Superintendent) Song Byung-joo will proceed as planned at 10:30 a.m. on the 23rd. These hearings will be presided over by Deputy Chief Judge Park Wankyu, who is also responsible for warrants at this court. Although Judge Kim was scheduled to handle all warrant hearings this week, the court explained that since the cases involving former Chief Lee and others are reapplications, Deputy Chief Judge Park will conduct their hearings. Previously, Judge Kim dismissed the detention warrants for former Chief Lee and Superintendent Song on the 5th.

Earlier, the Special Investigation Headquarters (Special Unit) of the National Police Agency, which is investigating the Itaewon disaster, applied for detention warrants on the 19th for five individuals including former Chief Lee and Mayor Park. The Seoul Western District Prosecutors’ Office rejected the warrant application for Moon In-hwan, Director of the Safety, Construction, and Transportation Bureau, but filed applications for the other four individuals the day before.

In the warrants, the Special Unit added charges of falsification and use of false official documents to former Chief Lee, in addition to existing charges of professional negligence causing death and injury. Superintendent Song and Mayor Park were charged with professional negligence causing death and injury. Head Choi was charged with professional negligence causing death and injury as well as dereliction of duty.

According to the Special Unit, former Chief Lee is accused of exacerbating casualties by failing to take appropriate measures before and after the disaster. He is also accused of falsifying the time of arrival at the scene. Superintendent Song is accused of failing to take proper safety measures, such as pushing the crowd that spilled onto the road back onto the sidewalk, despite receiving a 112 emergency call warning of the risk of crushing just before the disaster.

Mayor Park is accused of neglecting to prepare safety accident prevention measures during the Halloween period and responding inadequately to the disaster. The Special Unit considers the charges against the local government, which has primary responsibility for disaster preparedness and relief under the Disaster and Safety Management Basic Act (Disaster Safety Act), to be more serious than those against the police. Based on this judgment, it is reported that detention warrants were also applied for Head Choi, who holds practical responsibility.

Previously, on the 1st, the Special Unit applied for detention warrants against former Chief Lee and Superintendent Song on charges of professional negligence causing injury, but the court dismissed them. The Special Unit then conducted a comprehensive supplementary investigation, adding charges of falsification and use of false official documents against former Chief Lee, and proceeded with reapplying for detention warrants. The necessity of detention investigation and the possibility of warrant issuance for Yongsan District Office officials including Mayor Park were also reviewed.