Seoul: The relocation of the presidential office by the previous Yoon Suk Yeol administration led to a lack of police presence that could have mitigated the nation's deadliest crowd crush in 2022, a government audit concluded Thursday. The tragic incident claimed 159 lives during Halloween festivities in a narrow alley of the Itaewon nightlife district in Seoul's central ward of Yongsan on October 29, 2022, amid insufficient crowd control measures.
According to Yonhap News Agency, following Yoon's election in March 2022, the presidential office was moved to the defense ministry compound near Itaewon as part of his campaign promises. The rapid accumulation of people in the narrow alley was identified as a factor in the tragedy, but questions persisted about why the authorities did not deploy sufficient personnel for crowd control.
The interagency audit, initiated in July, revealed that police preparations for the large-scale festivities were inadequate and that the relocation of the presidential office to Yongsan Ward earlier that year influenced these efforts. The Office for Government Policy Coordination noted that police leadership prioritized security near the presidential office after its relocation to Yongsan.
A police official involved in the audit stated that the audit confirmed longstanding rumors in numerical terms and was significant in uncovering the truth behind the tragedy by examining police preparations, personnel management, and follow-up actions. Between May 1 and October 30 of that year, 921 rallies occurred within the Yongsan Police Station's jurisdiction, a significant increase from 34 during the same period the previous year. The average number of police personnel deployed in the area also saw an increase.
The audit also found that the responses from the Seoul city government and the Yongsan Ward office were lacking. An initial disaster reporting system malfunctioned, and follow-up measures, such as establishing a disaster safety countermeasures headquarters, were delayed or not implemented.
The government plans to seek action against 62 individuals for their misconduct in response to the disaster or in implementing follow-up measures. The audit was conducted following a meeting between President Lee Jae Myung and the victims' families on July 16, where they requested the audit before the three-year disciplinary period expired.