The chief is guilty, the commissioner is innocent...Resistance to the "exemption" of bereaved families

[Anchor]
The bereaved families of the Itaewon disaster protested the acquittal of Kim Kwang-ho, the former head of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, saying they did not punish the chief security officer of the Seoul area at the time.

While former Yongsan chief Lee Im-jae was convicted earlier, the court is interpreted as having taken an important view of the actual scope of responsibility, which is expected to continue to be an issue.

Reporter Kim Yi-young reports.

[Reporter]
The bereaved family of the Itaewon disaster, who watched the first trial of former Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Commissioner Kim Kwang-ho, expressed their anger as soon as they came out of court.

[10.29 Itaewon disaster bereaved family: This is a trial that exonerates the police from being responsible for anything like this in the future....]


When former Commissioner Kim came out, the crowd mixed together, causing a chaos in front of the court.

[Kim Kwang-ho / Former Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Commissioner: (How do you feel when you came out innocent?)].]

The bereaved family criticized the court for interpreting the law passively, saying that the chief executive was not punished in the end.

Kim Kwang-ho, former head of the Seoul Metropolitan Government, and others voiced their opinions that it is not understandable that he did not punish him even though he was in important positions such as overseeing security affairs in the Seoul area on the day of the disaster.

However, the court has public expectations that the police would have come up with more effective safety measures,

While expressing regret that the state's response to the social disaster was insufficient,

said the defendants' criminal liability was not sufficiently demonstrated.

Earlier, it was the responsibility specified in the law that distinguished the guilt or innocence of Yongsan Chief Lee Lim-jae and Yongsan-gu Mayor Park Hee-young,

This time, the issue seems to have been the extent to which the actual scope of responsibility is rather than the status quo.

[Son Jeong-hye / Lawyer (YTN New Square 2PM): The practitioner of the main position in charge of the jurisdiction of Yongsan Police Station is legally responsible, but it was difficult to predict with specificity because the superior was in charge of the entire country. I think that's why he was found not guilty.

The prosecution has issued a fundamental position that it will consider whether to appeal based on the ruling.

The bereaved families emphasized that those responsible would be punished not only through trials but also through the activities of the special investigation committee.

As such, the battle over the responsibilities of former Commissioner Kim and others is expected to continue in the future.

I'm YTN's Kim Lee Young.

Reporter for shooting
: Shim Won-bo
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video: Choi Yeon-ho