The South Korean government: The relocation of the presidential office affects the allocation of police forces involved in the Itaewon stampede

The South Korean government released the investigation results of the Itaewon stampede on Thursday (October 23), stating that after the Yoon Suk Yeol administration moved the presidential office to Yongsan District, Seoul, the number of police forces deployed in the Itaewon area decreased, which had an indirect impact on the accident.

On Halloween, October 29, 2022, more than 100,000 people flocked to the Itaewon area, which is crowded with nightclubs, most of whom were young people. They were celebrating the first Halloween without any epidemic prevention restrictions in three years with great enthusiasm. Unexpectedly, a stampede occurred, resulting in over 150 deaths and more than 300 injuries.

It is reported that at the time of the incident, the police deployed about 137 officers, but it was far from enough to deal with the tens of thousands of people.

Yonhap News Agency reported that the State Affairs Adjustment Office of South Korea has launched a cross-departmental joint inspection of the National Police Agency, the Seoul City Government and the Yongsan District Government since July 23 this year. The investigation results released on Thursday showed that after the Yoon Suk Yeol administration moved the presidential office to Yongsan, the leadership of the Seoul National Police Agency and the Yongsan Police Station prioritized the security work of the presidential Office. On the day of the incident, the police concentrated their forces near the presidential palace to control the gathering, but did not dispatch police officers to the Itaewon area. Senior police officials did not take any measures in response.

As a follow-up measure, although the police launched a one-year special inspection starting from November 2022, the inspection team failed to prepare a work report and the handover was not in place, resulting in the person responsible for the tragedy not being properly punished and retiring normally.

Many problems have also been exposed in the emergency response of the local government. At the time of the Itaewon stampede, the reporting system of Yongsan District Government was not functioning properly, and the district government failed to take or fulfill subsequent measures such as establishing a disaster safety response headquarters in a timely manner. In May 2023, the district government requested the municipal government to punish those responsible for the Itaewon tragedy. However, the municipal government did not follow the formal process. After an internal report, the punishment was postponed. As a result, the responsible person retired without being punished.