Court Grants Bail for Park Hee-young, Yongsan District Mayor, in 'Itaewon Tragedy' Case

Park Hee-young, the mayor of Yongsan District, and Choi Won-jun, former head of the Safety and Disaster Division of Yongsan District Office, who were detained and indicted on charges including inadequate response to the 'Itaewon disaster,' will be released.

Park Hee-young, Mayor of Yongsan District. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

According to the legal community on the 7th, the Criminal Division 11 of the Seoul Western District Court (Chief Judge Bae Seong-jung) approved the bail requests of Mayor Park and former Division Head Choi on the same day. The court set conditions for bail, including submission of a written pledge, residence restrictions, and payment of a bail bond. Earlier, on the 2nd, they had applied for bail, arguing there was no risk of evidence tampering or flight.

Mayor Park is accused of failing to establish and implement an effective safety management plan for the Itaewon area during the Halloween festival period, as the local government head and the head of the relevant department primarily responsible for disaster and safety. He is also charged with not properly operating the permanent disaster safety situation room and failing to establish a proper cooperation system with related agencies such as the police and fire departments.

Former Division Head Choi is accused of being aware of the disaster occurrence around 11:25 p.m. on the day of the incident but drinking alcohol and going home, failing to perform his duties as head of the Disaster Safety Division, including disaster recovery, until 7:30 a.m. the following day.