Ex-Yongsan police chief attends arrest warrant hearing over Itaewon crush

Lee Im-jae, former head of the Yongsan Police Precinct, appears for a hearing at the Seoul Western District Court on Friday. [YONHAP]

A former chief of the Yongsan Police Precinct attended a court hearing Friday to determine whether he should be arrested for allegedly failing to promptly respond to the deadly crowd crush in Seoul's Itaewon neighborhood.

It was the second time that prosecutors have sought an arrest warrant for Lee Im-jae, former head of the Yongsan Police Precinct covering the Itaewon district, after the earlier request was denied earlier this month.

The court at the time cited the need to guarantee the suspect's right to defense.

"I am sorry and again sorry as the chief of the police precinct at the time," Lee told reporters upon arrival at the Seoul Western District Court for the hearing.

A decision on whether to approve his arrest is expected to come late Friday night or early Saturday.

Lee has been booked on charges of professional negligence and manslaughter by negligence resulting in the deaths of 158 people.

The former chief is also accused of arriving at the site late, some 50 minutes after the tragedy happened.

He is also accused of not taking enough crowd control measures after prior warnings of overcrowding during the Halloween celebrations, police said.

Yonhap