2024-10-17 06:40:00
SEOUL (AP) — A South Korean court has cleared the country’s capital’s former police chief and two other officers of their botched response to a 2022 Halloween stampede that left nearly 160 people dead.
The ruling by the Seoul Western District Court triggered an angry reaction from relatives of the deceased and their defenders, who accused the court of refusing to hold top officials accountable for the incident, which they attributed in large part to a lack of disaster planning and inadequate emergency response.
Former Seoul Metropolitan Police Chief Kim Kwang-ho is the highest-ranking official among more than 20 police officers and officials charged in connection with the stampede in Itaewon, Seoul’s popular nightlife district. Prosecutors requested five years in prison for King.
An investigation led by the National Police concluded that although more than 100,000 people were expected to attend a Halloween celebration near Itaewon, police and local authorities did not plan to implement effective crowd control measures.
Investigators determined that the Seoul police sent only 137 police officers to Itaewon on the day of the incident. Police also ignored calls from pedestrians to a hotline that warned of deaths as the crowds grew. When people began to be pinned down in an alley near the Hamilton Hotel, they failed to control the scene so paramedics could get to the injured in time.
Some experts described what happened as an “organized disaster” that could have been avoided with relatively simple measures, such as deploying more police and public workers to control traffic congestion, designating one-way pedestrian streets and cutting off narrow alley.
A Seoul court acquitted Kim and said prosecutors had failed to prove that Kim failed to perform his duties or that there was a link between his actions and the large number of casualties. The court also acquitted two junior police officers who faced similar charges.
The Itaewon Disaster Families Group, which represents victims of the stampede, called the ruling “disingenuous” and “incomprehensible” and asked prosecutors to appeal.
“We strongly condemn the senior police officers of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency for neglecting their responsibilities of prevention, preparedness and response despite the expected large crowd gatherings, and for having been given a free pass by denying their responsibilities so far.”
This month, the same court also sentenced the former chief of Seoul’s Yongsan Police District to three years in prison and found two of his colleagues guilty of professional negligence for failing to prepare for crowds or respond appropriately to an avalanche, resulting in deaths. One other officer was also sent to jail, and a third officer was given a suspended sentence.
The court acquitted Park Hee-young, director of the Yongsan Security Office, and other department officials, saying they did not have the legal authority to disperse the crowd.
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