Head of Yongsan District Office arrested for professional negligence in Itaewon crush

Park Hee-young, head of the Yongsan District Office, is questioned by reporters at the Seoul Western District Court on Monday where a hearing on her arrest warrant was held. [NEWS1]

The head of the Yongsan District Office Park Hee-young was arrested Monday on charges of not responding appropriately to the Itaewon crowd crush that took the lives of 158 people on Oct. 29.

The Seoul Western District Court issued an arrest warrant for Park on the charge of professional negligence resulting in death. Park was absent from the safety meetings held prior to Halloween and failed to promptly respond to the tragedy. She is also accused of tampering with evidence including getting rid of her mobile phone to hide her whereabouts on the day of the tragedy.

This marks the first case that an arrest warrant was issued for an official from the Yongsan District Office who had immediate responsibility in relation to the safety prevention of the tragedy.

In explaining why the warrants were issued, a judge at the Seoul Western District Court who made the decision said, “there seems to be enough evidence for their alleged crime” and that there is “concern about destroying evidence.”

An arrest warrant was also issued for Choi Won-jun, safety and disaster manager at the office on the same day.

Choi was charged with professional negligence resulting in death and dereliction of duties as he allegedly returned home after visiting close to the site by a cab as he heard about the incident while drinking with his acquaintance. Instead of taking care of the incident site, he returned home.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO, LEE CHANG-HOON [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]