South Korean court gives prison sentences to 3 police officers over deadly 2022 Halloween crush
The Peninsula
SEOUL, South Korea: A South Korean court gave three police officers prison sentences on Monday over their botched handling of a 2022 Halloween crush i...
SEOUL, South Korea: A South Korean court gave three police officers prison sentences on Monday over their botched handling of a 2022 Halloween crush in a Seoul nightlife district that killed nearly 160 people.
It was the first conviction of officials over the failure by authorities to prevent or adequately respond to the overcrowding that occurred in the popular Itaewon district. No top-level officials have been charged or held accountable, prompting criticism from bereaved families and opposition politicians.
The crush, one of the biggest peacetime disasters in South Korea, caused a nationwide outpouring of grief. The victims, who were mostly in their 20s and 30s, had gathered in Itaewon for Halloween celebrations.
The Seoul Western District Court sentenced Lee Im-jae, the former chief of Seoul’s Yongsan police station, whose jurisdiction includes Itaewon, to three years in prison. It sentenced another Yongsan police officer to two years in prison and gave a third officer a suspended two-year term.