'Order to Delete Itaewon Disaster Report' Police Official... "Wrong Decision, I Reflect"

Former Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Public Safety Information and Foreign Affairs Division Chief Park Seong-min, who was indicted for ordering the deletion of a police information report related to the Itaewon disaster that warned of potential safety accidents due to crowd congestion, stated in court that the order to delete the report was a mistaken judgment.

On the 5th, Park Seong-min, former Director of Public Safety Information and Foreign Affairs at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (Senior Superintendent), entered the Seoul Western District Court for the pre-arrest detention hearing of four police executives who were issued arrest warrants over allegations of inadequate response to the Itaewon disaster and deletion of information reports. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

At the trial held on the 23rd at the Seoul Western District Court Criminal Division 11 (Presiding Judge Bae Seong-jung), former Chief Park explained that immediately after the Itaewon disaster, he instructed the responsible officers to delete the report after achieving its purpose, believing at the time that it was a correct decision according to regulations. He stated that, in accordance with the 'Regulations on Police Officers' Information Collection and Processing,' information collected and created for a specific purpose was discarded once that purpose was fulfilled.

Former Chief Park said, "I failed to approach this from the perspective of uncovering the truth or determining responsibility for the disaster, and instead approached it as a matter of correcting errors within the department in charge," adding, "I believe I made a wrong judgment due to a narrow viewpoint. I reflect on that part."

Park was indicted along with former Yongsan Police Station Intelligence Chief Kim Jin-ho for deleting a Specific Information Request (SRI) report immediately after the Itaewon disaster, which contained warnings that crowd congestion could lead to safety accidents. The prosecution argues that the report sufficiently anticipated the possibility of a safety accident.

However, former Chief Park defended himself, saying, "Interpreting it broadly as the prosecution claims does not align with the meaning of the document," and added, "The Itaewon disaster exceeded the scope of safety accidents we would normally consider."

Before the trial, families of the disaster victims held a press briefing and one-person protests demanding severe punishment for former Chief Park. Yoo Hyeong-woo, father of the late victim Yoo Yeon-ju, urged, "As the first anniversary of the disaster approaches, no one is taking responsibility," and appealed, "Please show a just attitude for the sake of younger officers who dream of becoming future police officers."