SEOUL - A Seoul district court on Oct 17 ruled that Mr Kim Kwang-ho, former chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, was not guilty of negligence before and during the deadly Halloween crowd crush on Oct 29, 2022, in Itaewon, central Seoul.

       According to the Seoul Western District Court, the prosecution had not provided enough evidence that Mr Kim had directly violated his duty of care as chief of the Seoul police agency, either on the day of the crowd crush or in the days leading up to it.

       He was the highest-ranking police official indicted in connection with the tragedy.

       The rulings come two weeks before the second anniversary of the tragedy, which was South Korea’s deadliest crowd crush, which left 159 people who were celebrating Halloween dead.

       Prosecutors had requested a five-year sentence for Mr Kim in January 2024. He was suspected of neglecting duties such as sending police officers to prepare for possible safety risks that could occur due to large crowds on the night of the disaster.

       Two other emergency monitoring police officers from the agency – Ryu Mi-jin, who was on call at the time of the tragedy, and Jeong Dae-kyung, a former head of its emergency situation team – were also acquitted by the district court on Oct 17.

       While the district court acknowledged the police response to the incident fell short of the public’s expectations, it concluded that the evidence presented by the prosecution did not strictly prove Mr Kim and the two other police officers’ negligence caused or contributed to the incident.

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       Specifically for Mr Kim, the district court ruled that it was unlikely he would have understood there was a risk of a severe accident and a need for preventive measures to take place, based on reports and text messages submitted to the court by relevant departments in the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency and Yongsan Police Station.

       “When considering the evidence submitted (to the court) by the prosecution, it is insufficient in proving that Mr Kim violated his duty to directly and specifically warn about the potential hazards of the crowd crush,” the court said on Oct 17.

       The court added that upon learning of the crowd crush from the Yongsan police chief, Mr Kim immediately ordered his agency to dispatch all available units – concluding that the incident cannot be said to have been further escalated due to his professional negligence after the tragedy.

       Following the court rulings, bereaved family members of the victims held a press conference in front of the Seoul Western District Court, urging prosecutors to appeal against the ruling.

       “Today, I felt like I was watching a comedy sketch instead of a hearing that would show the judiciary serving justice,” said Mr Lee Jung-min, vice-chairman of the Association of Families of Itaewon Disaster Victims.

       “What does it mean when they say there is a problem, but no one is at fault?”

       He added: “We will continue to fight to the death to hold all those responsible, including Mr Kim Kwang-ho, to bring justice.”

       In a commentary issued shortly after the acquittal of the police officials, the Association of Families of Itaewon Disaster Victims called the sentence “unacceptable and deceptive”, saying it was a “judicial decision that violates the role of the judiciary”.

       Mr Kim’s acquittal comes after former Yongsan district police chief Lee Im-jae was in September sentenced to three years’ jail after he was found guilty of failing to prevent the crush. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK