Announcement of Disaster Investigation Results 74 Days After Inauguration
Applying Joint Principal Offender Legal Theory to Negligent Perpetrators
23 People Including Seoul Police Chief Referred to Prosecution
[Asia Economy reporters Seongpil Jo and Taewon Choi] The Police Agency’s Special Investigation Headquarters (Special Investigation HQ) has concluded that the ‘Itaewon crowd crush disaster’ occurred due to a combination of negligence by institutions responsible for disaster safety prevention and response?such as the police, local governments, and fire departments?who failed to establish proper preventive measures beforehand and did not provide appropriate rescue actions immediately after the accident. The Special Investigation HQ has charged 23 suspects as joint perpetrators of negligent crimes, applying charges including professional negligence resulting in death or injury, and referred them to the prosecution.
On the morning of the 13th, the Special Investigation HQ announced the results of the Itaewon disaster investigation at the Mapo office of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. This conclusion came 74 days after the Special Investigation HQ was launched. The Special Investigation HQ was established on November 1 last year to verify the facts and determine responsibility for the Itaewon disaster. During the investigation, they secured and analyzed over 180 pieces of evidence including closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage around the scene, social network service (SNS) posts, and tip-off videos. They conducted two joint inspections with the National Forensic Service (NFS), measuring the accident site and confirming the crowd density per unit area (㎡). Additionally, they analyzed approximately 140,000 documents obtained through searches of government agencies, local governments, and Seoul Metro, and investigated 538 individuals related to the incident.
Through the investigation, the Special Investigation HQ ultimately determined that the Itaewon disaster was caused by a combination of negligence including inaccurate situation assessment, delayed communication of the situation, and delayed rescue measures by institutions such as the police, local governments, fire departments, and the transportation corporation. Son Je-han, head of the Special Investigation HQ, stated, “It was foreseeable that a large crowd gathering around the Itaewon World Food Street area could lead to a safety accident, yet the institutions did not take preventive measures against such accidents. Even after receiving rescue reports before the accident, appropriate actions were not taken.”
The Special Investigation HQ applied the legal principle of joint perpetrators of negligent crimes to the suspects from these institutions, concluding that the disaster resulted from the cumulative negligence of multiple parties. Joint perpetrators of negligent crimes refers to cases where two or more people, even without conspiring to commit a crime, are recognized as accomplices because their joint negligence caused the criminal outcome. This legal principle has been recognized by the Supreme Court in previous cases such as the Sampoong Department Store collapse, Seongsu Bridge collapse, and Sewol ferry disaster.
During the investigation, the Special Investigation HQ booked 24 individuals on charges including professional negligence resulting in death or injury, and referred six of them to the prosecution while in custody. Those sent to prosecution in custody include former Yongsan Police Station Chief Im Jae, former Yongsan Police Station 112 Situation Room Chief Song Byung-ju, former Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Public Safety Information and Foreign Affairs Division Chief Park Sung-min, former Yongsan Police Station Intelligence Division Chief Kim Jin-ho, Yongsan District Mayor Park Hee-young, and Yongsan District Safety and Disaster Division Chief Choi Won-jun. Seventeen others, including Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Chief Kim Kwang-ho and Yongsan Fire Station Chief Choi Seong-beom, were referred without detention. A Special Investigation HQ official explained, “The decision to refer without detention was made considering the necessity and appropriateness of detention.” Among the suspects, the Yongsan Police Station Intelligence Section Chief who died by suicide during the investigation was not prosecuted due to lack of prosecutorial rights.
The Special Investigation HQ concluded that it was difficult to find specific violations of duty of care by institutions such as the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Seoul City, and the Police Agency, and thus closed the investigation without booking any suspects from these bodies. Specifically, regarding the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the Special Investigation HQ viewed that under the Disaster and Safety Act, there is no specific duty of care imposed concerning the risk of mass gatherings in particular areas, and it is difficult to establish causality due to the lack of foreseeability and avoidability of the large-scale casualties. Similarly, Seoul City was judged not to have a specific duty of care regarding the risk of mass gatherings in certain areas of Yongsan District. Regarding the Police Agency, the Special Investigation HQ considered that after the implementation of the autonomous police system, the safety management of mass gathering events falls under the jurisdiction of autonomous police.
In addition, the Special Investigation HQ plans to dismiss or close investigations without booking suspects for seven complaints and 21 petitions, including the complaint against Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min. Furthermore, various suspicions raised early in the investigation related to items such as the ‘rabbit headband’ and ‘Gaksital’ (a traditional Korean mask) were judged to have no direct connection to the cause of the accident and were closed without booking suspects. The Special Investigation HQ also reported that 15 individuals found to have committed non-criminal professional misconduct were notified to their respective institutions for disciplinary actions.
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