On an autumn night, 158 people died in the center of Itaewon, Seoul.
Only one month has passed since then.
The pieces of fragmentary facts of that night have been able to draw their outlines over the past month thanks to the efforts of the National Assembly, the media, and many citizens.
However, the internal situation of the police, which is the key agency responsible for accident prevention and follow-up, was in the dark.
It was not known what reports and instructions were exchanged even a month after the disaster.
Instead, only the one-sided statements of the parties responsible for the disaster and those suspected of negligent homicide in office resonated in the National Assembly.
[이임재/당시 서울 용산경찰서장]
“I’m very sorry. It’s embarrassing and devastating, but I didn’t know the exact situation on the site until then…”
“When I asked the head of the 112 Situation Office about the situation, he said, ‘There are a lot of people and there is congestion, but there is nothing special about it’…”
Through the office of Congressman Kim Gyo-heung of the National Assembly’s Special Committee on Government Investigation, MBC obtained a transcript of the 112 command network radio transmissions from the Yongsan Police Station and the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency before and after the disaster.
The 112 command network is a key wireless network where not only the Yongsan Police Station situation room, Itaewon police box, and traffic police officers, but also those involved in the drug crackdown at the time can listen.
◇ “There are many people, but not enough staff” 20 emergency radio calls.
Immediately after and immediately before the disaster, on the Yongsan Police Station’s 112 command network radio, the message, “There are too many people, so we need to act,” appears a total of 20 times.
By time zone, at 7:00 pm, “There are too many people in Itaewon” came back and forth 6 times, and at 8:00 pm, “Send police officers across the Itaewon police box quickly, warn the crowd” only once .
Then, at 9 o’clock at night, 13 emergency radio calls were made.
“It’s a very crowded situation,” he said. (people) and secure 1 and a half,” a radio message went back and forth 13 times in an hour.
At 9:33 pm, 40 minutes before the disaster, the Main Situation 112 gives a very specific order.
“Since the crowd gathers immediately, we have to place careers at the exit of Itaewon Station and send them down to the subway station in 20-second intervals in groups of 10,” he said.
Nevertheless, Lee Im-jae, the head of the Yongsan Police Station, attended the National Assembly’s proposed investigation and said, “At 9:57 pm, I asked the head of the 112 Situation Department about the situation, and I got an answer that it was there. There were many people and there were (traffic) jams, but nothing special.”
According to the report and instructions revealed by radio, the head of the 112 situation department at the Yongsan Police Station could not have recognized the Itaewon site at the time.
In the end, it seems that a parliamentary inquiry will have to find out whether the head of the 112 Situation Department reported properly to the head of the Yongsan Police Station, or whether the Yongsan Police Station swore itself in the National Assembly even after receive the report.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s 112 Situation Room, a higher-level agency, is also not free of responsibility.
If you look at the details of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s 112 network radio, at 9:01 pm, “There is a situation where there is a major accident and danger prevention with the instruction number 10602,” and “Please check it. well related to Itaewon Halloween, and work in order.” yes
It was not just a safety accident, but after acknowledging ‘major accident’ concerns, he did not inform the situation manager at the time, Mi-jin Ryu, who was working away from his room on the 10th floor, and he didn’t do that. give any instructions.
Lee Im-jae, former chief of Yongsan Police Station
◇ 20 minutes after the disaster, “Send all available careers” ‥ “Condolences only 60 people” On-site report
Lee Im-jae, the head of Yongsan Police Station at the time, was at the center of controversy over his ‘late response’ after wasting almost an hour immediately after the disaster due to traffic jams at Noksapyeong Station.
Therefore, former chief Lee has been noted that responsibility is inevitable not only for prevention but also for follow-up.
However, the former Chief Lee appeared at the proposed National Assembly inquiry and said, “I’m really sorry,” and “I’m ashamed and miserable, but I didn’t know the exact situation at the time.” r place until then (until I arrived). in the Itaewon police box)…” and avoid responsibility.
As the report was not made properly, he could not know the situation, and it was only when he arrived at the Itaewon police box across the site that he recognized the situation and gave correct instructions.
Lee’s first radio appearance is at 10:35 pm, 20 minutes after the disaster.
“Send all available experience from Detective Team 1 to other traffic police officers.”
Just before Chief Lee gives this order, there are reports from the radio station at Yongsan Police Station that “female screams are heard”, “people are trying to be crushed”, “there are too many people , reports are still coming in”, and “looks like it’s crushed” raining. hit her
It appears that the former Chief Lee listened to the contents of the radio transmission in the official car, and then gave the order to ‘move all available careers’ via the radio attached to the official car or a portable radio .
After the former chief’s first order, the detective team and the robbery team, which were put under drug control at the time, as well as the traffic police officers were all assembled in front of the Hamilton Hotel.
At 10:59 pm, a traffic police officer who was put into direct traffic said at the scene that “about 60 people are in a state of cardiac arrest”, and 50 seconds later, the head of the violent team said 6 that “about 30 people were unconscious.”
It was already a situation that could be classified as a large-scale disaster even on this scale, but at that moment, former chief Lee arrived at the Itaewon police box on foot with his hands behind his back and only to appear on the radio 10 minutes later after climbing onto the roof of the police box.
The instructions were to “push the crowds out of the two lanes of the Hamilton Hotel into the driveway.”
However, until this time, the road was not controlled for traffic, and a minute later, the first traffic control order came down.
At 11:18 pm, former chief Lee gave specific instructions, saying, “Continue to secure an emergency route so that emergency patients can leave.”
As careers were finally used in the back alley of the Hamilton Hotel, the densely packed crowd of hundreds of people split, and about 100 people were brought out one after the other.
It was only 1 hour and 3 minutes after the disaster.
Representative Kim Kyo-heung of the National Assembly’s ‘Special Committee to Investigate the Yongsan Itaewon Disaster’ said, “The radio recording revealed the false testimony of the Seoul Yongsan Police Station chief. “I will ask,” he said. .
(Materials provided: Office of Congressman Kim Kyo-heung of the Democratic Party)
