Seoul, Halloween massacre: three years for former local police chief, other officials acquitted

Lee Im-jae, 54, convicted of failing to foresee the huge turnout of people in Itaewon on 31 October 2022. Other officials including the head of the local government exonerated. Incident ‘not classified as an accident’ and regulations not ‘mandatory’ according to the court. Victims' relatives appeal demanding harsher punishment.

Seoul (AsiaNews/Agencies) - Since the 2022 Halloween stampede in Seoul's Itaewon nightlife district, that left 159 people who had attened one of the first post-pandemic mass gatherings dead, victims' families have been demanding justice.

Yesterday, a court in the capital sentenced Lee Im-jae, 54, a former Yongsan police chief, to three years imprisonment. The prosecution argued that the massive influx of people was foreseeable, but despite this, security officials failed to ensure order. There were just over 130 officers on the scene that evening, of whom only about 50 were in uniform: a far insufficient number.

Reconstructions of the tragedy had pointed the finger at the responsibility of high-ranking government officials, including President Yoon Suk-yeol himself and the Minister of the Interior, Lee Sang-min, which then fell on deaf ears. For the associations and families of the victims, investigations involving junior officials absolve the highest officials of any responsibility.

In addition to Lee Im-jae, the investigation also focused on other officials in the district, including Yongsan local government chief Park Hee-young.

However, the Seoul court found them not guilty, because the regulations in force at the time of the events did not require them to find security measures for unplanned events. ‘Crowds caused by large gatherings were not classified as an incident under the law at the time,’ the judges argued, ’and there were no mandatory regulations specifying the need to establish separate security management plans for events without a host.

The prosecution had sought seven-year prison sentences for both Lee Im-jae and Park Hee-young. The defence of the defendants, however, argued throughout the trial that a crowd mob of this size could in no way have been foreseen in advance, relieving the two of any responsibility.

So far, twenty-three people, including two companies, have been indicted in connection with the tragedy. In fact, it is not the responsibility of individual persons because, as the Constitutional Court itself has ruled, the Halloween tragedy of 2022 stems from a failure involving multiple government entities and agencies.

One overarching issue is illegal building: the pedestrian alley that night was less than 4 metres wide, contrary to South Korean law. Following yesterday's court ruling, the victims' relatives held a press conference in front of the court, denouncing the outcome, in particular the acquittal of the Yongsan district office chief, while urging the prosecution to appeal the verdict in order to obtain harsher sentences for both defendants.

• Itaewon
• tragedy
• families
• Lee Im-jae
• Park Hee-young
• Halloween
• court
• Yongsan