Seoul, South Korea /
A South Korean court imposed on Monday prison sentences for three police officers for his improper handling of a stampede at a party of 2022 in which almost 160 people died.
They were the first convictions for the authorities’ failure to respond adequately to the excessive concentration of people in the Halloween party in Itaewon district. No high-ranking officials have been prosecuted, prompting criticism from families of the victims and opposition politicians.
The stampede, one of the worst peacetime disasters in South Korean history, sparked a nationwide wave of mourning. The victims, for the most part young people between 20 and 30 years oldhad gathered in Itaewon to celebrate Halloween.
Seoul Western District Court sentenced Lee Im-jaeformer head of the Yongsan police station in Seoul, whose jurisdiction includes Itaewon, to three years in prison. Another Yongsan police officer received two years in prison and a third received a two-year suspended sentence.
The three officers had been convicted of professional negligence with deadly consequences. The court determined that the stampede was not a natural disaster and that could have been avoided, or at least lessened, if the three officers had prepared properly, if they had quickly alerted others to the dangers, and if they had supervised other police officers appropriately.
Both police officers and prosecutors can appeal the decision.
The court also acquitted Park Hee-youngdirector of Yongsan district, and three other officials. It determined that that agency would not have the legal right to control or disperse a crowd of people.
Relatives of the victims criticized the fact that Park and other officials were acquitted.
“Does this make sense? We cannot accept this,” Lee Jeong-min, a representative of the families, told reporters.
Moments during the crowd:
Minutes before the tragedy in Itaewon, Seoul, South Korea…. Hundreds of people in the middle of the Halloween celebration…. So far they confirm 59 dead and 150 injured by the stampede…. South Korean media speak of 100 deaths pic.twitter.com/sUdIqn3q8O
— César Moreno (@CesarMorenoH) October 29, 2022
In early 2023, a police investigation determined that police and municipal officials did not take appropriate control measures of crowds despite anticipating a large number of attendees for the parties in Itaewon. The researchers further said that police ignored emergency calls made by citizens warning about the increasing number of people before the stampede.
YRH
​
​
