Extension of Park Hee-young Yongsan District Mayor's Detention Until the 20th
Prosecution Conducts Raids on 10 Locations Including Yongsan District Office and Police Agency on the 10th
Park Hee-young, the Yongsan District Mayor, who is accused of professional negligence causing death and injury related to the Itaewon disaster, is attending the pre-trial detention hearing at the Seoul Western District Court in Mapo-gu, Seoul, on December 26 last year. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@
[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Taewon] The detention period of Park Heeyoung, mayor of Yongsan District, has been extended until the 20th. The indictment of the suspects in the Itaewon disaster is expected to take place before the Lunar New Year holiday after a comprehensive supplementary investigation by the prosecution.
The Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office requested the court to extend the detention period of Mayor Park and Choi Wonjun, head of the Safety and Disaster Division of Yongsan District Office, and announced on the 12th that it was accepted. Originally, their detention period was until this day. They were detained and sent to the prosecution on the 3rd on charges including professional negligence resulting in death or injury.
The background for the extension of the detention period is analyzed to be due to the prosecution launching a comprehensive supplementary investigation into the Itaewon disaster.
On the 10th, the prosecution conducted searches and seizures at 10 locations including Yongsan District Office, the National Police Agency, and Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in relation to charges of professional negligence resulting in death or injury. The search of the National Police Agency was conducted twice over two days due to the vast amount of materials.
The prosecution is known to have additionally secured evidence supporting the criminal facts against Mayor Park, former Yongsan Police Station Chief Lee Imjae, and other suspects who were detained and sent to the prosecution. The indictment of the suspects is expected to proceed after the prosecution analyzes the seized materials and conducts investigations.
Prosecutors and investigators collected records of Mayor Park’s work before and after the disaster and internal network transmission logs from the Yongsan District Office’s Secretariat, Public Relations Office, and Smart Information Division offices. Departments within the police related to the Itaewon disaster under investigation, including the Yongsan Police Station’s Intelligence Division and Community Safety Division, the National Police Agency’s Informatization Infrastructure Division, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Public Safety Intelligence and Foreign Affairs Division, and the Itaewon Police Substation, were also included in the search and seizure targets.
During the special investigation team’s process, locations not previously included such as Seoul Southern Detention Center where Mayor Park and former Chief Lee are detained, and the homes of former Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Public Safety Intelligence and Foreign Affairs Division Chief Park Seongmin, former Yongsan Police Station Intelligence Division Chief Kim Jinho, and former Director Song, who have already been brought to trial, were newly added as search and seizure targets this time.
Earlier, Mayor Park was detained by the special investigation team on December 26 last year on charges of professional negligence resulting in death or injury for neglecting to prepare safety accident prevention measures during the Halloween period and inadequately responding to the disaster. Subsequently, Mayor Park was handed over to the prosecution on the 3rd and filed a detention review with the court on the same day, but it was dismissed.
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