Arrest warrant sought for Yongsan Fire Station chief in Itaewon crush case

Social Affairs

Published: 22 Dec. 2022, 18:58

Arrest warrant sought for Yongsan Fire Station chief in Itaewon crush case

Choi Seong-beom, center, chief of the Yongsan Fire Station, briefs lawmakers conducting a bipartisan parliamentary probe into the Itaewon crowd crush at the site of the tragedy in Yongsan District, central Seoul, Wednesday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

The special police investigation team said Thursday it plans to apply for an arrest warrant for Choi Seong-beom, chief of the Yongsan Fire Station, for his suspected role in the botched response to the Itaewon crowd crush.

An official of the police investigation team said the fire chief's "poor command over the rescue efforts was an important factor" leading to the damages incurred that night and that his "actions following the accident were very inappropriate."

Choi is accused of doing nothing for some 40 minutes while at the site of the accident in Yongsan District's Itaewon, where tens of thousands of people gathered for Halloween celebrations on the night of Oct. 29, which led to the fatal crowd crush that killed 158 people.

After analyzing fire station records and CCTV footage, police accused Choi of not taking any action from 10:28 p.m., when he first arrived at the scene, to 11:08 p.m., when he declared command authority.

By the time Choi arrived at the scene, there were already large-scale casualties.

However, the police team said that Choi did not take charge other than by speaking to a Yongsan Fire Station command team head and listening to the two-way portable radio for 40 minutes.

During the incident, the first level of a three-stage crisis response was issued by the on-site command team leader at 10:43 p.m., and the second- and third-level responses were issued at 11:13 p.m. and 11:48 p.m. by the chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Fire and Disaster Headquarters.

The second-level crisis response can be issued only when more than 10 people are injured, or by the head of the local district emergency rescue command team — in this case, the chief of the Yongsan Fire Station.

The police investigation team says that the crowd was dissolved by around 11:22 p.m. Thus, it said, the rescue efforts could have been sped along if Choi had been properly taking command of the emergency response.

The team claims that the firefighting authorities were responsible for not properly performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on victims, in which the timeliness is critical, and also for failing to properly classify emergency patients.

A large number of non-emergency patients were transported to nearby Soon Chun Hyang University Hospital in Yongsan District, central Seoul, while patients truly in need of emergency treatment were neglected for a considerable period of time.

Choi has maintained that he had been delivering orders through the command team leader, who was acting as his proxy, though there is a lack of records backing this.

Unlike local police chiefs, Choi has been one of the more visible figures in the aftermath of the Itaewon disaster as he was the authoritative figure holding on-site press briefings updating people on the night of the incident. He immediately gained public support for becoming the face of a calm authority figure on ground, informing media and the public about the situation while his hand holding a microphone was trembling, showing how he was visibly shaken by the events that night.

The police team has also been investigating whether Choi Jae-won, chief of the Yongsan District Office's public health center, also had a role in the delay in the classification of emergency patients that night.

Choi was initially said to have arrived at the site at 11:30 p.m., returned to the district office, then returned back to the scene at 12:09 p.m. the next day.

Police are accusing him of falsely stating in an internal document that he began conducting rescue efforts at 11:30 p.m., though he actually went home from the health center without visiting the accident site and then returned later with subordinate officials.

Earlier this week, the police special investigation team filed for an arrest warrant for Lee Im-jae, former chief of the Yongsan Police Station, who is accused of neglecting his duties and manslaughter by negligence. He is also accused of arriving to the scene some 50 minutes after the incident and tampering with documents to conceal possible negligence.

Earlier in the month, a court denied the request for an arrest of Lee to ensure his right to defend himself.

They also sought arrest warrants for Park Hee-young, head of the Yongsan District Office, Song Byung-joo, former head of the Yongsan District Office's 112 emergency hotline situation room, and Choi Won-joon, safety and disaster manager at the office.

A court will make a decision on the arrest warrants as early as Friday.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]