South Korea police admit response was inadequate
South Korea’s police chief has said crowd control during the Itaewon crush was “inadequate” – the first acknowledgment from officials that they did not do enough to prevent it.
Amid growing calls for accountability, Yoon Hee-keun said police response was “disappointing” and that he felt “limitless responsibility about public safety” over what happened.
He vowed a full investigation.
The deadly incident killed 155 people and injured 152 others.
It happened on Saturday night as crowds gathered in an alley in Itaewon, a popular nightlife district in Seoul, to celebrate Halloween without restrictions for the first time since Covid.
Yoon said police had received numerous calls before the accident happened, alerting them to the seriousness of the situation, but their response was lacking. Seoul police said the first call to South Korea’s emergency number came at 18:34 local time and there were 10 more calls over the next three-and-a-half hours.
Yoon’s comments follow growing public demands for accountability. Authorities initially sought to portray it as an accident that could not be easily blamed on anyone.
The police earlier said they deployed more officers for this year’s Halloween festivities than they did for pre-Covid parties. One congressman on Tuesday also pointed out that because there was no main organizer for the party, there had been no special requests made to the police for crowd control and safety management.
“It’s impossible to ask for legal responsibility, as nobody was responsible,” said Yoo Sang-bum, who is with the ruling People’s Power Party, on local radio.
Agencies