South Korean authorities have issued arrest warrants Thursday for four more police officers as part of the investigation into the tragedy that took place last October 29 in the Itaewon neighborhood of Seoul, where nearly 160 people were killed.
The four officers have been identified as Lee Im Jae, former chief of Yongsan Police Station in Itaewon, Park Sung Min, former senior intelligence officer, Kim Jin Ho, former intelligence officer in Yongsan, and Song Byung Joo, former senior emergency officer.
This is the first time arrest warrants have been requested as part of the special investigation into the Halloween tragedy that has shocked the country. Lee, meanwhile, has been accused of arriving late to the scene — about 50 minutes after the first warnings — according to Yonhap news agency.
He has also been accused of failing to take appropriate measures to control the large capacity after the first calls from attendees to the emergency services. The team investigating the incident also said that Park ordered the suppression of an intelligence report due to the security alerts it contained for the Halloween festivities.
He is the highest-ranking police officer among nearly 20 officers under investigation in the wake of the incident. Kim, meanwhile, has been accused of asking his subordinates to delete the report in question.
