SEOUL: Seoul’s chief of police has been charged with professional negligence over the deadly 2022 Halloween crush that killed nearly 160 people, prosecutors in the South Korean capital said.

On Oct 29, 2022, tens of thousands of people — mostly in their 20s and 30s — had been out to enjoy post-pandemic holiday celebrations in Seoul’s Itaewon nightlife district.

But the night turned deadly when people poured into a narrow, sloping alleyway between bars and clubs, the weight of their bodies and a lack of effective crowd control leaving more than 150 crushed to death.

Kim Kwang-ho, head of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, was charged with professional negligence resulting in injury or death, Seoul’s Western District Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement released.

As the chief of the SMPA, he “did not take necessary measures, such as deploying sufficient police forces and ensuring proper command and supervision” on the day of the crush, the statement said, although he was able to “foresee potential dangers arising” from overcrowding in the nightlife area. Kim, the highest-ranking police official to face trial over the tragedy, was charged without detention.

Published in Dawn, January 21st, 2024