Photo : YONHAP News
The former head of the Seoul Yongsan Police Station has been sentenced to three years in prison in connection with the crowd crush that killed 159 people and injured nearly 200 others in Seoul’s Itaewon neighborhood in 2022.
The Seoul Western District Court handed down the sentence Monday after finding the ex-official, Lee Im-jae, guilty of causing death and injury due to occupational and gross negligence.
However, he was acquitted of perjury in connection with testimony he gave during a parliamentary hearing about the tragedy.
In its ruling, the court said the hilly, crowded alleyways during the 2022 Halloween festivities in Itaewon presented a foreseeable danger to pedestrians, based on media reports and police intelligence from that time.
The court found that Lee increased the number of casualties by failing to take preventive measures, such as dispatching a security task force and controlling nearby traffic.
Lee remains free pending an appeal.
Meanwhile, the court handed down a two-year sentence to Song Byung-joo, former head of the Yongsan emergency hotline situation room, for the same offenses.