'High ranking officials are being irresponsible'

An intelligence officer at Yongsan Police Precinct, who was accused of deleting a report related to the Itaewon tragedy, was found dead at his home on Nov. 11. The police are still probing the details of his death, but said that he is believed to have committed suicide.

On Oct. 26, just a few days before Halloween, a report written by an intelligence official at Yongsan Police Precinct was filed. The report said a huge crowd is expected to rush to the area and an accident might take place.

Allegedly, the officer ordered another official to delete the document and became the subject of investigation by the Special Investigation Headquarters.

The special investigation unit issued a statement on Sunday expressing their condolences over his death, saying that they will do their best to investigate the Itaewon tragedy. The special unit also planned to look into related allegations of high ranking officers at Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency as well as the intelligence officer at Yongsan Police Precinct.

However, the special investigation unit is facing criticism that it is only targeting working-level officials rather than those at the top in charge of safety management.

#expressing_condolences

“He was someone’s husband and father. I can’t imagine how they feel now.”
“He must have been cornered so bad to make such a decision.”

#high_ranking_officials_should_take_responsibility
“It is not convincing that he persuaded the writer and deleted the report alone.”
“High ranking officials are being irresponsible. Why should working-level civil servants take the responsibility?”

#cannot_trust_the_special_investigation_headquarters
“They employ about 500 people. Then they failed to secure the subjects whereabouts?”
“Is it okay to trust a police investigation? There’s no government agencies that supervise them. The prosecution should take the case.”

BY KIM AH-YOUNG, BY HAN HYE-RIM [han.hyerim1@joongang.co.kr]