Police Deny Allegations of Checking Accounts of Victims in 'Itaewon Disaster'

"Financial Transaction Records Not Included in the Warrant"

Regarding the suspicion that the police checked the card details of 450 victims of the Itaewon disaster, the police explained that they only examined public transportation usage records for the purpose of investigating the Itaewon stationmaster.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Violent Crime Investigation Unit stated on the 21st, "In response to the prosecution's request for additional supplementary investigation, we obtained and reviewed only the public transportation usage records from credit cards through a search warrant to objectively confirm the fact and time of using Itaewon Station on the day of the accident," adding, "Financial transaction details were not included within the scope of the warrant."

However, they acknowledged that records outside the warrant's scope were received. The police explained, "Due to an administrative error by the financial institution, two cases of data beyond the warrant's scope were received, but since they were unrelated to the investigation, all were discarded."

Previously, the Police Agency's Special Investigation Headquarters investigating the Itaewon disaster had obtained transportation card usage records of a total of 450 people, including 158 victims and 292 survivors, by issuing a financial information warrant in January.

The police maintain that they reviewed these transportation card usage records to determine whether the Itaewon stationmaster complied with the request for non-stop subway passage on the day of the disaster, following the prosecution's supplementary investigation request.