South Korea police chief says he was camping on night of deadly Halloween crowd crush
- Yoon Hee-keun is accused of ignoring his deputies who made multiple calls to him while he was camping with friends 120km from Seoul on October 29
- At least 156 people died that day after thousands of revellers crowded into narrow streets in Seoul’s popular Itaewon district to celebrate Halloween
Yoon Hee-keun reportedly went hiking with friends and had a few drinks with them before spending the night at a campsite in Jecheon, around 120km from the capital, on October 29.
“I already told you I did drink,” Yoon told a parliamentary panel investigating the disaster that also left scores injured.
“It was a Saturday night, can’t a man have a drink then?” he said on Wednesday. “How much of my personal life must I justify?”
Yoon was accused of ignoring his deputies who made multiple calls to him. He finally answered them around midnight on October 30, the Korea JoongAng Daily reported.
The parliamentary probe, which began in November, has grilled several police officers and officials, including from the Seoul city government and Yongsan, where Itaewon is located. The inquiry is separate from a police investigation into the mishap.
On Thursday, Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency chief Kim Kwang-ho was referred to the prosecution for indictment without detention. He faces charges of professional negligence resulting in death.
01:57
South Korea mourns Itaewon crowd crush through Christmas season
There were about 100,000 people in Itaewon when the stampede happened, but only 137 police officers had been present in the nightlife area at the time, officials said.
Some victims’ family members have sued and sought compensation from the government over its lax handling of the incident.
Police are likely to complete their investigation by the end of this month.
