On Saturday (Jan 20), South Korea brought charges against Kim Kwang-ho, the chief of police in Seoul, accusing him of contributing to the deadly Halloween crowd crush in Seoul in 2022 through negligence. The incident resulted in the tragic loss of over 160 lives, and the Seoul Western District Prosecutors Office released a statement indicating that Kim was charged with professional negligence leading to injury or death.
According to the prosecutors, as the head of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA), Kim failed to take necessary measures on the day of the incident, such as deploying adequate police forces and ensuring proper command and supervision. The statement explicitly mentioned that Kim, in his capacity as the SMPA chief, did not fulfill his responsibilities, leading to the tragic outcome of the Halloween crowd crush.
Kim Kwang-ho becomes the highest-ranking police official to face charges in connection with the Halloween incident, and notably, he was charged without detention. Last year, in January, a special police investigation team forwarded charges against rescue and district offices to the prosecution, alleging their involvement in the government’s mishandling of the incident.
While the heads of the police station in Seoul’s Yongsan district and the Yongsan Ward office were charged by prosecutors earlier, the decision to charge Kim took over a year to materialize. The prosecutors’ statement released on Friday outlined that Kim, along with the chief of the Yongsan Police Station and the head of the Yongsan Ward office who are already on trial, collectively bore responsibility for the deaths of 158 individuals and injuries to 312 individuals due to professional negligence.
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