Police blasted for poor response to Halloween tragedy

Police officers are seen at a memorial altar for the victims of the Itaewon crowd crush near Noksapyeong Station in Itaewon, Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap

Gov't to launch task force to develop safety measures to prevent mass crowd incidents

By Nam Hyun-woo

Criticism of the police and Commissioner General Yoon Hee-keun is intensifying as records and internal documents point to their lack of response to Saturday's Itaewon crowd crush.

During a party meeting, Wednesday, ruling People Power Party interim leader Chung Jin-suk said that the truth should be revealed as to why police failed to take appropriate measures to prevent the disaster.

"There were 12 emergency calls before the crush," Chung said. "Police officers were dispatched to the site four times, but why they didn't take sufficient on-site measures, such as bringing in the riot police, should be revealed and responsibility properly taken."

Chung's comments came after the National Police Agency (NPA) disclosed the transcripts of 11 emergency calls it received from 6:34 p.m. to 10:11 p.m., Saturday. Just four minutes after the last emergency call, the accident took place, killing 156 people and injuring 152 who were enjoying Halloween festivities there as of Wednesday.

In the transcripts, callers described the situation as a serious emergency, saying, "I am being crushed," "We need help immediately," "It is very dangerous," and, "This could be a major disaster." However, the police sent officers in response to only four of the calls, and dismissed the others without dispatching any other officers.

Local broadcaster SBS reported that an officer at Yongsan Police Station, which includes Itaewon, filed a report on safety risks several days before the Halloween event took place there, but the report was not reflected in the police control plan for Saturday night.

Police Commissioner General Yoon Hee-keun bows as he apologizes for the police's lack of response to the Itaewon crowd crush during a press conference at the National Police Agency headquarters in Seodaemun District, Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap

The NPA commissioner general admitted that the police response to the situation was "insufficient" and said he will "make excruciating efforts to reveal the truth," but the government is also now changing its stance and asking for the police to take responsibility for the tragedy.

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"The most fundamental duty of the police is to protect people's lives and property," Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said during a Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters meeting, Wednesday. "Negligence or a lax attitude in serving this duty is equivalent to betraying the public's trust."

Interior Minister Lee Sang-min also apologized for the police's slow response to the situation.

According to PPP interim chief Chung, the NPA disclosed the emergency call transcripts upon President Yoon Suk-yeol's order, and multiple sources at the presidential office added that Yoon "expressed his rage at the police's belated and insufficient response."

Against this backdrop, SBS also reported that the police have created a document anticipating the political aftermath of the Itaewon tragedy, which contains its analysis of liberal civic group activities after the disaster.

In the report, the police said that liberal civic groups are comparing the Itaewon crowd crush with the sinking of the Sewol ferry in 2014, which killed 304 passengers, to highlight the government's insufficient response, and recommended that the government promptly "resolve the issue of compensation."

The police said that making the report is part of the police's role to analyze information pertaining to public safety and risks.

While the ruling bloc is struggling with the police's failure to respond, the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is intensifying its criticism of the president, police commissioner general and interior minister.

"The ultimate responsibility for the Itaewon tragedy goes to President Yoon," DPK supreme council member Rep. Jung Chung-rae said. "He should relieve Interior Minister Lee and Commissioner General Yoon of their positions immediately."

DPK spokesperson Park Sung-joon criticized the police's promise to examine itself to look for the reason for its inadequate response, raising concerns over the organization's capability to conduct proper self-scrutiny.

"If the examination is insufficient, this could become the subject of a state investigation," Park said.

The NPA said Wednesday that a special team set up to find the root cause of the Itaewon tragedy was in the process of investigating the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, Yongsan Police Station, the Yongsan District Office and five other related organizations to find out whether the police's response to the emergency calls was appropriate. Also, the NPA said that it has suspended the Yongsan Police Station chief from his post, and that it will name his successor in the near future.

Meanwhile, the government said it will set up a task force to come up with safety measures to prevent mass crowd incidents. The team will focus on safety measures for festivities without organizers, following some criticism that the high number of fatalities in the Itaewon crowd crush tragedy was due to the festivities having no official organizer.

"The current safety manual for crowd crushes is inapplicable to mass events without organizers, such as the Itaewon Halloween festivities," a safety ministry official said. "After analyzing the incident thoroughly, the government will create a new manual that can be applied to mass events without organizers."

Also, the safety ministry and police announced that they will overhaul the police's emergency call response system, without specifying any details.