Itaewon tragedy worsened by presidential office relocation: audit

South Korea’s joint government audit team concluded Thursday that the 2022 deadly Itaewon crowd crush was worsened by former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s decision to relocate the presidential office to Yongsan-gu, in central Seoul.

The audit found that on the night of Oct. 29, 2022, when 159 people were killed in a crowd crush during Halloween festivities, Yongsan police had assigned large numbers of officers to manage protests near the presidential office instead of crowd control in Itaewon.

Unlike in previous years, no special security or congestion-control plans were drawn up for the district despite the expected large turnout.

The joint audit task force, launched July 23 by the Office for Government Policy Coordination, the National Police Agency and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, said after Yoon’s office moved to Yongsan, police workload in the area increased dramatically, with demonstrations rising 26-fold between May and October 2022. Commanders prioritized guarding the presidential compound, leaving Itaewon — approximately 1 kilometer from the presidential office — understaffed on the night of the tragedy.

The report criticized leadership at multiple levels, including the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency and Yongsan Police Station, for neglecting risk warnings and failing to issue corrective orders when informed that no personnel had been dispatched to Itaewon.

Police records showed that in the four hours leading up to the disaster, Itaewon Police Station received 11 emergency calls warning of possible crowd crush risks. Officers responded to only one, and the remaining cases were falsely logged in the system as if police had been dispatched and taken action, according to the audit.

Auditors also found that Yongsan and Seoul police chiefs were slow to arrive at the scene, resulting in command gaps during critical early moments.

The head of Yongsan Police Station did not arrive at the scene until 50 minutes after the crush began, while the Seoul police chief learned of the disaster more than 20 minutes late and failed to report to the national commissioner until after 1 a.m.

The Interior Ministry’s review of local governments revealed that Yongsan District Office staff were absent from duty or assigned to unrelated tasks during the initial response and failed to promptly relay emergency calls.

Inspections of local entertainment venues were also deemed inadequate, with poor enforcement of noise and safety regulations that may have worsened crowding.

Following the audit, the government plans to discipline 51 police officials and 11 local government personnel for dereliction of duty and procedural failures.

The Lee Jae Myung administration plans to relocate the presidential office back to Cheong Wa Dae, the former presidential residence compound, marking a reversal of Yoon’s 2022 move. Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back told lawmakers this week that security units are already preparing for the return.

President Lee, who pledged during his campaign to “restore the symbolic and cultural role” of Cheong Wa Dae, is expected to resume official duties there by year’s end, while continuing to pursue his long-term plan to relocate the capital’s administrative functions to Sejong City.