3 South Korean police officers innocent in violent crime case

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean court has found the former police chief of the country’s capital and two other officers innocent of a botched response to a Halloween crowd that killed nearly 160 people in 2022.

The Seoul Western District Court’s ruling sparked angry reactions from grieving relatives and their lawyers, who accused the court of refusing to hold senior officials accountable for an incident largely blamed on a lack of disaster planning and inadequate emergency response.

Kim Kwang-ho, former chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, was the highest-ranking police officer among more than 20 police and government officials charged over the altercation in Itaewon, a popular nightlife district in Seoul. Prosecutors had requested a five-year prison sentence for Kim.

An investigation conducted by the National Police Agency found that police and local officials did not plan effective crowd control measures despite expecting more than 100,000 people to gather for Halloween events in Itaewon.

Investigators found that Seoul police deployed only 137 officers to Itaewon on the day of the clash. Police also ignored hotline calls from pedestrians warning of the growing crowds before the surge turned deadly. When people were crushed in an alley near the Hamilton Hotel, police failed to control the scene or allow paramedics to reach the injured in time.

Some experts called the crush a “man-made disaster” that could have been prevented with relatively simple measures, such as deploying more police and public personnel to monitor bottlenecks, enforcing one-way streets and blocking narrow paths.

The Seoul court acquitted Kim of professional negligence, saying prosecutors had failed to prove he had breached his duties or to establish a link between his conduct and the high number of deaths and injuries. The court also acquitted two lower-ranking police officers who were accused of similar charges.

The court noted that although Kim received status updates from various departments of his agency and the Yongsan Police Station on the situation in Itaewon before the clash on October 29, 2022, this information was not enough to detect the possibility of an attack incident of this magnitude.

The court also found that Kim had ordered various police stations in Seoul, including Yongsan, to draw up plans to ensure security during Halloween celebrations.

“On the basis of the evidence presented by the prosecution alone, it is not sufficient to conclude that the professional negligence of the defendants and its connection to the occurrence or escalation of this incident are fully and beyond reasonable doubt,” one said Statement from the court. Relatives of the victims hugged and cried outside the courtroom after the verdict was announced.

The Itaewon Disaster Bereaved Families, a group representing victims, said the verdict was “dishonest” and “incomprehensible” and called on prosecutors to appeal.

“We strongly condemn the senior officers of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency who have disregarded their duties of prevention, preparation and response despite anticipating the gathering of a large crowd and who have so far denied their responsibility. a free pass will be given,” the group said.