South Korea Probes Police Leadership in Two-Day Itaewon Disaster Hearing
A two-day parliamentary hearing into the Itaewon disaster is taking place on December 12–13 at the Bankers Association Building in Jung-gu, Seoul. The Special Investigation Committee for Truth and Prevention of Recurrence of the Itaewon disaster is questioning senior police officials about leadership decisions and crowd-control measures during the tragedy.
Witnesses include Yoon Hee-geun, former Commissioner General of the National Police Agency; Kim Kwang-ho, former Commissioner of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency; Lee Im-jae, former chief of the Yongsan Police Station; and Yoon Si-seung, former head of the Seoul Police Security Bureau. They appeared as witnesses and informants as part of the inquiry.
During testimony, Yoon said, “If I had known the contents of the event, I would have, of course, evaluated it and assigned personnel accordingly.” Jeong Moon-ja, an nonexecutive member of the commission, pressed him, asking, “After years in this job, how could you say you didn’t know?”
Family members of victims protested the remarks, raising their voices during the session. Yoon also argued that the Seoul Police Agency did not oversee security management for Halloween events, insisting that duty did not fall within his purview.
The hearing is part of a broader effort to determine responsibility and prevent a recurrence, examining police leadership, crisis response, and safety planning for large public gatherings. The proceedings highlight how authority and accountability are distributed between national and local police in Korea, a topic of interest for international observers.
For U.S. readers, the case underscores concerns about policing accountability, inter-agency coordination, and emergency-management responsibilities in large-scale urban events—issues that intersect with security cooperation, risk management, and event planning in the United States and among allied partners in the region. The two-day inquiry is expected to continue with further testimony.