Dismissal of warrant in charge of Itaewon disaster site… From the first button, 'pricked'

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Among the police officers who applied for arrest warrants from the Itaewon Disaster Special Investigation Headquarters, the warrants for two were dismissed, including the chief of Yongsan Police Station, who was in charge of the scene.

The Special Investigation Headquarters said it would review whether to apply for a warrant again, but there is also a prospect that it will disrupt the so-called upper-level investigation.

This is Reporter Kim Hyung-rae.

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Superintendent Lee Im-jae, who was the head of the local police station at the time of the 'Itaewon Disaster', walks out of the detention center.

After escaping arrest, Lee lowered his head, saying he would live with the heart of a criminal for the rest of his life.

[Lee Im-jae/Former Yongsan Police Station Chief: There are the deceased and their families, what can I say?

As the police chief who failed to protect them, I will live with the feeling of a criminal for the rest of my life.] The

court dismissed arrest warrants for former chief Lee and former Yongsan Police Station situation chief Song Byung-joo, who are accused of increasing the loss of life by failing to take appropriate measures after the disaster .

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This is because it is difficult to recognize the reason and validity of the arrest with only the submitted data, and it is necessary to ensure the suspect's sufficient defense rights.

Two officials from the Seoul Metropolitan Government and Yongsan District Information Line, who are suspected of ordering the deletion of a preliminary information report that warned of the danger of Halloween crowds, were arrested after recognizing concerns about destroying evidence.

The special edition said it would review whether to re-apply for a warrant by analyzing the reasons for the dismissal.

In addition, Kim Kwang-ho, chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, who is currently in the highest position among those arrested, was summoned again after four days.

[Kim Gwang-ho/Chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency: I will say that I will faithfully conduct the investigation without hiding or helping.]

The special edition asks what kind of measures Commissioner Kim took immediately after the disaster and why he did not deploy a police riot police in the Itaewon area at the time. I did.

In addition, Choi Jae-won, head of the Yongsan-gu Public Health Center, was also called as a suspect and questioned for falsely reporting his actions on the day of the disaster.

(Video coverage: Park Jin-ho, video editing: Park Ki-duk)

--- I'll summarize the situation of the

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investigation with reporter Park Won-gyeong, who covers the police.

[Reporter Park Won-gyeong: The charges of the first arrest warrant, which the Special Investigation Headquarters applied for over 500 investigative powers for over a month, are business manslaughter applied to the former Yongsan Police Station Chief and the former Yongsan Police Station 112 Situation Chief.

We didn't do our job properly, and that's why there were casualties. A causal relationship between the two must be proven.

However, as we did our coverage, the special version claimed that the former chief of the Yongsan Police Station 112 Situation Department sent the crowds up to the sidewalk before the disaster and caused the disaster. loses

As a result, it is questionable whether the police clearly proved the causal relationship.]

[Reporter Park Won-kyung: There are such concerns.

The original plan for the special version was 'after securing a new recruit for the former head of Yongsan Police Station, who was in charge of the field, we will expand the investigation to the top police officers, such as the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, and local governments, such as the Ministry of Public Administration and Security and the head of Yongsan-gu.'

However, it is clear that there was a setback because the first gateway, the warrant for the field manager, was in a messed up situation.

The police have been reviewing whether to apply for an arrest warrant for the head of Yongsan-gu and the chief of the Yongsan Fire Station, but the investigation schedule has no choice but to be affected.

In the case of the Ministry of Public Administration and Security, no one has been booked yet other than Minister Lee Sang-min, who has received the complaint, so the question mark has grown larger on the expansion of the investigation.

The ruling party and the president's office have adhered to the policy of holding Minister Lee Sang-jin or the Commissioner General accountable after determining the truth of the disaster by prioritizing the police investigation to find out the truth.

At the current trend, it will take a considerable amount of time before political responsibility is asked.]