S. Korea's chief of police admits response to Itaewon incident was 'inadequate'

윤희근 경찰청장 대응 미흡 인정, 신속수사 약속... 국가배상은 가능할까?

The head of the national police agency apologized for "inadequate response".
The agency will begin a thorough investigation and set up a special investigative body.
On state compensation for the bereaved, legal experts outlined the details.
Kim Bo-kyoung tells us more.

Hours before the Itaewon incident occurred, several members of the public had reportedly lodged complaints to the police via the 1-1-2 hotline to notify them of a potential situation in the area.
South Korea's chief of police Yoon Hee-keun admits that the police agency's response was inadequate and promises a full investigation into the matter.

"When seeing the reports, there were emergent warnings alerting the police of the possible risk of accidents as large crowds had gathered before the incident took place. Yet, the way the police agency dealt with such reports were inadequate."

After saying that he feels heavy responsibility as one of the heads of the related agencies, Yoon said he will do his best to make sure nothing like this happens again.
He has also promised for a prompt investigation to see whether each officer in command and at the site had properly dealt with the issue once 1-1-2 calls had been received.
The agency will also set up a special investigative body to look further into the incident and check if there are any structural problems in the country's emergency response system.
When asked whether he will resign, he said what's more important now is to investigate and get to the bottom of the incident, but added that he will take a stance after the results come out, hinting that he could step down.
As the police head acknowledged shortfalls in the police's response, there are some question marks over whether the bereaved families would be able to receive compensation when the issue goes to the court.
One law expert specializing in compensation cases against the state, says the key point would be whether proper measures could have been taken in advance.

"Like the head of the police has said, if the 112 reports were received two to three hours before the incident, they would have had time to come up with additional measures. If such reports were found to be ignored, that's the where we could claim compensation - for negligence and misconduct of public officials."

Yet, other experts say it could still be hard to claim compensation as the incident was unprecedented and one without a specific organization in charge to be held accountable.
Kim Bo-kyoung, Arirang News.

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