Police Say There Were 20 Members On Duty At Itaewon During The Halloween Disaster, But It's Not Enough

Officers stand guard at the location of the celebration of Itaewon Halloween, Seoul, South Korea. (Twitter/@historieente)

South Korean National Police Commissioner-Commissioner Yoon Hee-keun said the police's response at the time of the Itaewon Halloween disaster was not enough, followed by announcements of inspections and investigations, while officers said they needed help but did not receive sufficient response.

An Itaewon police post officer on duty said, "At the time of the accident, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency asked for human resources support, but superiors refused," Hankook Ilbo was quoted as saying November 2.

According to police on the 2nd, police post officer Itaewon A told the police's internal network the night before, "On the day of the incident (Itaewon disaster), a total of 79 reports were received from 6pm to 10 pm. About 20 Itaewon police post officers who worked at that time did their best."

He continued, "The traffic staff of the Yongsan Police Station controlled crowds from all over the site, and there were too many people in the crowd, so we had to handle other reports in addition to reporting concerns about safety accidents, so 20 people wasn't enough," he said.

The officer also said, "Ahead of the Global Itaewon Village Festival which was held on the 15th and 16th of last month and this Halloween, I asked for the support of police personnel from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in Yongsan-seo, but my superiors refused."

He later pointed to Commissioner Yoon, saying, "The Yongsan Station staff, who worked harder than anyone else, were branded as incompetent and lazy police officers and criticized by the media.

Commissioner Yoon held an emergency press conference the day before and said, "Before the accident (Itaewon), there were 112 reports showing the seriousness of the scene, but the response to handling it was not enough. We will thoroughly investigate whether the actions of commanders and workers at every level are appropriate."

The employee post received more than 400 supportive comments this morning. A police officer wrote, "Incompetent commanders make police incompetent, and sad commanders turn field personnel into criminals."

The morale of frontline police officers has greatly decreased due to this situation. "I have been in the police force for more than 20 years, and now it seems to be the biggest crisis," said an executive-level police officer in charge of security.

A superior at a police station in Seoul is angry, revealing, "Did you say that you burned public sentiment, saying that police are irresponsible because the event was not organized by the command department, and now you are asking the police to take responsibility for the incident?"