SEOUL, South Korea — A South Korean court on Monday sentenced the former police chief of a district of Seoul to three years in prison for a botched response to a deadly Halloween crowd crush in the capital’s Itaewon nightlife district in 2022.
Yongsan police station chief Lee Im-jae is the first senior police official to be convicted over the crush, which led to 159 deaths nearly two years ago.
The court said the crowd crush was a “man-made disaster” that could have either been prevented or the impact substantially reduced if the accused had fulfilled their duties.
Park Hee-young, the Yongsan district office chief, along with three other district officials were found not guilty of failing to adequately respond to the crush.
Earlier this year, parliament passed a bill backed by the ruling and opposition parties to launch a fresh investigation into the Halloween crush.
Persons:
Lee Im, jae, Lee, Lee’s, Hee, Lee Sang, Prosecutors
Locations:
SEOUL, South Korea, Seoul, Yongsan