South Korea's police chief admits mistakes after mass panic

After the stampede in the South Korean capital of Seoul that left more than 150 dead, the country's national police chief has admitted to making major mistakes. Police chief Yoon Hee Keun said on Tuesday that police had heard from a "large crowd" at Halloween celebrations in the Itaewon district, which is popular for its nightlife, before the accident. However, this information was "insufficiently" dealt with.

"I feel a heavy responsibility (for the disaster) as the head of one of the affected agencies," Yoon, who is commissioner-general of the Korea National Police Agency, said at a news conference. "The police will do their best to prevent such a tragedy from happening again."

Yoon said initial investigations show that many urgent calls have been received from people alerting authorities to the possible danger of a large crowd forming in Itaewon. The officers who took the calls did not respond appropriately. He has ordered an even more in-depth investigation into how emergency calls were responded to and other questions, such as how police officers at the scene dealt with the crowds.

On Saturday evening, at least 156 mostly young people died and several others were injured at the first Halloween celebrations in Itaewon since the beginning of the corona pandemic. Around 100,000 people were out and about in the area. However, since the celebrations were not officially announced, the gathering was not systematically monitored by security experts, neither the police nor local authorities.

Strict rules actually apply to the safety management of crowds in South Korea. This means, among other things, that there are often more police officers than protesters present at demonstrations.

According to police, 137 officers were dispatched to Itaewon by Halloween. However, according to media reports, 6,500 officials were present at a demonstration at the other end of Seoul, in which only about 25,000 people took part.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government has a real-time crowd monitoring system that uses cellphone data to predict the size of crowds. However, according to media reports, it was not in use on Saturday evening.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said Tuesday the country urgently needs to improve its post-disaster crowd management system. Drones and other high-tech resources would have to be developed for this. "People's safety is important, regardless of whether there is an organizer or not," he said at a cabinet meeting.