"Request for Riot Police" vs "No Such Request Received"... Itaewon Hearing Truth Dispute

Opposition: "Doubt Arises Over Protection of Police Leadership"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] Former Yongsan Police Chief Lee Im-jae and Seoul Metropolitan Police Chief Kim Kwang-ho engaged in a dispute over the truth regarding whether the Yongsan Police Station requested a riot police unit from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency for crowd control before the Itaewon tragedy.

At the first hearing of the special committee investigating the 'Itaewon tragedy' held at the National Assembly on the 4th, former Chief Lee stated, "I still stand by my claim that I requested support from the riot police unit." He asserted that he requested a riot police unit from the higher authority, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, for crowd control in preparation for Halloween, but the request was not accepted.

In response, Chief Kim rebutted, "The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency only received a request for one traffic riot police unit and no other riot police unit requests."

Earlier, on November 16 last year, former Chief Lee testified at the full meeting of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee, saying, "Four days before the Itaewon tragedy, I requested the deployment of a security riot police unit from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, but it was not accepted due to the difficulty of providing support amid many protests and demonstrations."

On the other hand, Chief Kim stated at the full meeting of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee on November 7, "The Yongsan Police Station never requested a riot police unit for the purpose of crowd control during the Halloween festival."

On that day, former Chief Lee said, "There are many traces showing that I instructed (Yongsan Police staff) to request the riot police unit. However, many of these traces suddenly disappeared at some point, which I find very hard to understand."

Special committee members also raised questions. Yoon Geon-young, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, pointed out, "The search warrant for the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on November 8 last year states that after the Security Division of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency received a request for the deployment of the security riot police unit, it was decided not to deploy them, and this was reported through the chain of command to Chief Kim. Now, these testimonies are changing, and I have suspicions that an invisible hand might be at work to protect the police leadership."

The special investigation team reportedly conducted a search of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency but concluded through witness statements that there was no request for the riot police unit. Regarding this, Chief Kim said, "I have not confirmed the exact contents of the search warrant," and added, "I believe former Chief Lee is either giving false testimony or concealing facts."