Itaewon disaster committee files complaint against Yongsan ward chief, subway station chief

A special investigation committee on the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush decided Friday to file a complaint against the head of the Yongsan ward office for allegedly giving instructions that prevented officials from immediately responding to the tragedy.

Park Hee-young is accused of ordering officials to remove anti-government posters just as they were set to respond to the deadly crowd crush in the nightlife district of Itaewon on Oct. 29, 2022.

The crowd crush, which killed 159 people, happened during Halloween festivities in a narrow alley in Itaewon amid a lack of effective crowd control measures.

The committee said it would seek an investigation into Park on charges of abuse of power and perjury by filing a request to a joint team of police investigators and prosecutors. Park denied making such instructions in a March committee hearing.

The committee also decided to file a complaint against a former Itaewon subway station chief for allegedly perjuring herself during the hearing when she said there was no police request for trains to pass the station without stopping on the day of the tragedy.

The committee has determined the remarks as false after questioning multiple witnesses.

Yonhap