The Police Special Investigation Headquarters, which has been investigating the cause of the Itaewon disaster that left 159 victims, announced the results of its investigation today (13th) and concluded its 74-day activities.
The special edition judged that this disaster was a 'man-made disaster' caused by insufficient preventive measures, such as the failure to establish prior safety measures by the local government, police, and fire departments.
Even after the disaster, it was found that lifesaving or on-site control was not carried out according to the laws and manuals of each institution.
The special edition believed that the agencies' negligence overlapped and resulted in a large number of victims, and tied public officials belonging to each agency as co-perpetrators of professional negligence.
In the special edition, 6 people, including former Yongsan Police Station Chief Lee Im-jae and Yongsan-gu District Office Chief Park Hee-young, were arrested and sent to prison on charges of negligence and manslaughter on the job, and 17 people, including the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency chief and Yongsan Fire Station chief, were sent without detention.
Minister of Public Administration and Security Lee Sang-min, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, National Police Agency Commissioner Yoon Hee-geun, and the Seoul Autonomous Police Committee terminated the investigation without suspicion on the grounds that there is no specific duty of care regarding the risk of crowding in a specific area under the Disaster and Safety Act.
The special edition is scheduled to be disbanded after organizing the confiscated records by the end of this month.