The first trial of Yongsan-gu District Office and Police Chief sentenced to 'Response to the Itaewon disaster'..."You have to punish me".

[Anchor]
First trial sentences will be issued today for Yongsan-gu District Mayor Park Hee-young and former Yongsan Police Chief Lee Im-jae, who were handed over to trial for poor response during the Itaewon disaster, where 159 people died.

It's been almost two years since the disaster.

I'll connect you with more news and reporters. Reporter Yoon Woong Sung!

Did the trial begin?

[Reporter]
The Seoul Western District Court began the first trial of five police officials, including former Yongsan Police Chief Lee Im-jae, at 2 p.m. a while ago.

From 3:30 p.m., four district officials, including Yongsan-gu Mayor Park Hee-young, will be sentenced.

Earlier, the prosecution asked the court to sentence former Chief Lee and Mayor Park to seven years in prison, respectively.

Officials from Yongsan-gu District Office and Yongsan-gu District Office, who were handed over to trial together, were sentenced from one year in prison to five years in prison, depending on the severity of their negligence.

Former chief Lee, who is in custody, did not answer any questions from reporters while attending the trial.

Let's look at the situation at the time of attendance.

[Lee Limjae / Former Yongsan Police Chief: (It's a sentencing hearing. Do you admit the charges?)]. (Please say something to the bereaved family.) I'm sorry. (Do you think the prosecution's 7-year sentence is too much?) I'm sorry.)

Prior to the trial, the bereaved families of the Itaewon disaster held a press conference at Seoul Plaza, urged severe punishment for Mayor Park and former Chief Lee, and marched to the court.

Let's listen to the bereaved families.

[Lee Jung-min / Chairman of the Itaewon bereaved family council: We must be held accountable for the consequences so that tragedy can never come around us again. Only today will we be able to confirm the judgment on the results.]


Park and former chief Lee are accused of raising the disaster by not taking timely measures, such as not taking measures to prevent accidents in advance, even though large crowds were expected.

He is also accused of ordering employees to falsely record the time of arrival at the scene of the disaster in order to cover up the poor response.

However, they have shown that they have no legal responsibility because they could not predict a large-scale crush.

On the other hand, prosecutors and bereaved families say that anyone could expect a large number of people to gather as it was Halloween without masks three years after the COVID-19 outbreak, and that they have a duty of care if they predicted the possibility of safety accidents.

With the positions of both sides mixed over the duty of care, the sentence is expected to vary depending on what the court judges.

In addition, the court's judgment is expected to affect the results of the remaining first trial related to the Itaewon disaster, including former Seoul Mayor Kim Kwang-ho, who was sentenced to five years in prison for professional negligence.

I'll let you know as soon as the trial results come out.

I'm YTN Yoon Woong Sung.