The Seoul Western District Court convicted three former police officers on Wednesday over the destruction of evidence related to the Itaewon crowd crush. The catastrophe, which took place on October 31, 2022, in Seoul, resulted in the deaths of 159 people and injuries to 196 others.
Former solo Metropolitan Government Information Department Director Park Seong-min was sentenced to one year in prison for abetting the deletion of evidence. Likewise, former head of the Intelligence Department at Yongsan Police Station, Kim Jin-ho, received a similar prison sentence with three years of probation. An employee from the Yongsan Station was sentenced to four months in prison for their involvement in the destruction of evidence.
The Police Duty Execution Act specifies that Korean intelligence police’s key responsibility is to collect, analyze, and disseminate information to address and prevent public security threats. Therefore, intelligence reports cannot be deemed unnecessary until the threat has been fully addressed and resolved.
The charges stemmed from a crowd crush during the 2022 Halloween celebrations in the neighborhood of Itaewon. Soon after the fatal incident, the Korean National Police Agency initiated an investigation to find the causes of the tragedy.
Earlier, the National Assembly attempted to impeach Interior and Safety Minister Lee Sang-min, holding him responsible for the incident. However, the Constitutional Court of South Korea struck down the impeachment request in July 2023, asserting that it is difficult for the Interior Safety Ministry to anticipate such unplanned events.