Driver involved in deadly Seoul car accident repeats 'unintentional acceleration' claim to police

Social Affairs

Published: 04 Jul. 2024, 15:40 Updated: 04 Jul. 2024, 19:01

Driver involved in deadly Seoul car accident repeats 'unintentional acceleration' claim to police

Grieving families and colleagues of victims killed in the fatal car accident near Seoul City Hall attend the funeral procession at Seoul National University Hospital in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Thursday. [YONHAP]

The 68-year-old driver involved in a car accident near Seoul City Hall that killed nine people on Monday repeated his original claim that his car malfunctioned by suddenly and unintentionally accelerating during police questioning on Thursday.

Four investigators from the Seoul Namdaemun Police Precinct interrogated the driver, surnamed Cha, at the Seoul National University Hospital in Jongno District, central Seoul, for over two hours on Thursday afternoon. Cha is currently being treated at the hospital for broken ribs.

Cha reiterated his original claim that the accident happened due to sudden unintended acceleration. He said he had stepped on the car's brakes at the moment of the accident, but the brakes had been "hard."

Police also questioned Cha's wife, who was riding in the passenger seat at the time of the accident. During the questioning, she claimed that she didn't think the breaks had worked properly.

Police plan to question Cha further, while an arrest warrant for him was dismissed by a court on Thursday.

The Seoul Central District Court dismissed the warrant request against the driver, citing insufficient cause to believe he would flee or refuse police questioning, according to the Seoul Namdaemun Police Precinct.

Police asked for the arrest warrant the previous day.

"Even though the arrest warrant was dismissed, there will be no hindrance to the investigation since Cha is in the hospital and is under close police observation," said a police official on Thursday. "We will continue to review whether to re-apply for an arrest warrant."

On Monday, Cha left the underground parking lot of the Westin Josun Seoul hotel near Seoul City Hall and drove the wrong way down a one-way street for about 200 meters, crashing through guardrails and hitting pedestrians on the sidewalk before colliding with two other vehicles and halting.

Nine people were killed and seven others injured in the accident.

Cha was identified on Tuesday as a bus driver employed at a city bus company in Ansan, Gyeonggi, with over 40 years of driving experience. He was not found to be drunk or under the influence of drugs in the first series of tests conducted by the police, but the police plan to do additional blood tests on him, Chung Yong-woo, a senior police officer at the Namdaemun Police Precinct, said during a briefing on Tuesday.

A citizen bows on Thursday in front of flowers and letters left in front of the scene of a fatal car accident that left nine dead near Seoul City Hall on Monday. [YONHAP]

Even if Cha's claims of sudden unintended acceleration due to a vehicle malfunction were true, the charges against him under the Act on Special Cases concerning the Settlement of Traffic Accidents would not change, said Chung.

The car involved in the accident, a black Genesis G80 vehicle, has been transferred to the National Forensic Service for full examination, according to Chung.

Meanwhile, the funerals of the victims of the accident were held on Thursday, after the customary three days of receiving guests at the funeral halls. In Korea, funeral alters are set up immediately after death, and the bodies are moved to graves or cremated three days afterward.

Of the nine deaths, two were Seoul city government employees, four were employees at a nearby bank and three were employees at a company doing outsourced work from hospitals.

Hundreds of employees from Seoul City Hall, the bank and the outsourcing company attended the funeral procession at Seoul National University Hospital on Thursday, paying their last respects to their colleagues.

Bereaved relatives of the victims were seen in a state of extreme grief, with many of them crying or struggling to stand as the bodies were moved from the hospital funeral hall and transported via vehicles.

First lady Kim Keon Hee is seen on Wednesday laying flowers and reading condolence letters at the scene of the fatal car crash that killed nine people near Seoul City Hall on Monday in this picture uploaded on an online community website. [NEWS1]

The day before on Wednesday, first lady Kim Keon Hee was seen by passersby near the scene of the accident laying flowers and stopping to read some of the many condolence letters to the victims and the bereaved families. The presidential office had not announced Kim’s visit to the accident scene, and it appears she visited on her own.

Police on Thursday warned of the possibility of criminal punishment over online posts and notes left at the scene of the accident that ridicule the victims.

The Cyber Investigation Department of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said in a press release on Thursday that “mocking, insulting and defamatory posts related to the Seoul City Hall accident are being distributed online, raising concerns about serious secondary damage to the victims and their families,” and that criminal punishment regarding such posts were being reviewed.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]