South Korea court sentences highest-ranking police officer yet to jail over Halloween crush

Seoul CNN —

The former head of a local police station in Seoul has been sentenced to three years in jail over a deadly 2022 Halloween crowd crush, making himthe highest-ranking law enforcement official to be held criminally liable over the disaster.

Almost 160 people died in the crowd crush at the trendy Itaewon nightlife district on October 29 that year,in what wasone of South Korea’s deadliest disasters that left the nation reeling.

Lee Im-jae, former chief of the Yongsan police station, which oversees safety in Itaewon, is one of multiple officers to be prosecuted for failing to adequately prepare for the huge Halloween crowds.

Seoul Western District Court said Mondayit found Lee and two other former Yongsan police officers guilty of neglecting their duties, which resulted in deaths and injuries, despite signs that “the danger of large-scale casualties” was foreseeable.

Lee was also found guilty of failing to put in place sufficient crowd control and dispatch intelligence officials to the site. The court also found Lee delayed in reacting to the disaster. He was cleared of perjury.

He is the most senior police officer to be convicted, after a court sentenced an intelligence officer to 18 months’ jail while imposing shorter, suspended sentences onhis two subordinates on charges of destroying evidence earlier this year.

In January, Seoul’s former police chief was indicted for negligence in connection with the tragedy. He has also been on trial and is awaiting a verdict.

Itaewon, home to some of Seoul’s popular restaurants and bars, had hosted Halloween celebrations for years.

According to police emergency call logs on the day of the incident, multiple calls from members of the public were made about overcrowding