SEOUL— Two senior police officers were referred to the prosecution for indictment Tuesday for their alleged improper response to the deadly crowd crush in Seoul’s Itaewon neighborhood, police said.
Park Sung-min, a former high-ranking intelligence officer at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, and Kim Jin-ho, a former intelligence officer at the Yongsan Police Station covering the Itaewon district, are facing charges of destruction of evidence.
The two are the first to be referred to the Seoul Western District Prosecutors Office by a special investigation team in connection with the fatal crowd collapse on Oct. 29 that killed 158 people, mostly those in their 20s.
Park is under suspicion of ordering the deletion of an internal intelligence report giving prior warnings of a possible safety accident during the Halloween period in a suspected attempt to cover up inaction.
Kim is accused of making his subordinates delete the report under the direction of Park, according to the police.
The two have also been detained since a district court issued warrants last week.
Source: Yonhap News Agency