SEOUL– A special investigation team questioned a Yongsan Police Station officer on Tuesday as part of an investigation into a bungled response to the deadly crowd crush in Seoul’s Itaewon neighborhood.

The 51-year-old superintendent-rank intelligence officer, surnamed Kim, was questioned as a suspect in connection with allegations that a police intelligence report warning of possible safety accidents during the Halloween period was deleted after the tragedy.

“I will sincerely answer questions during the investigation process,” Kim told reporters as he headed to the investigation team’s office in the Mapo district in western Seoul.

Kim is the first of the seven officials booked for investigation to undergo questioning.

He, along with another Yongsan Police Station intelligence officer surnamed Jeong, was booked last week on suspicions that they ordered the deletion of the internal intelligence report in a suspected attempt to cover up inaction.

Charges against them also included professional negligence resulting in death and abuse of authority. The investigation team, meanwhile, plans to close Jeong’s case after he was found dead at his home on Friday in an apparent suicide.
Also on Tuesday, the investigation team was set to question officials from the Seoul metropolitan government, the Yongsan Ward office, the police and fire stations in the Yongsan district as well as surviving victims of the crush as testifiers to look into whether the government bodies appropriately responded to the accident.

A ranking official from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety was also set to undergo questioning on Tuesday amid speculations the investigation could further expand to determine if either or both the ministry and Interior Minister Lee Sang-min are accountable for the deadly accident.

As of Sunday, the death toll from the Oct. 29 crowd crush had risen to 158 after one more victim, a woman in her 20s, died while under treatment in serious health condition.

Source: Yonhap News Agency