On the 30th, the prosecution and police launched a joint investigation team to investigate the Halloween tragedy that occurred on October 29, 2022. Earlier, the investigative agencies indicted the head of Yongsan District, the chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, and the head of Yongsan Police Station, among others, with some receiving guilty verdicts in the first trial. However, President Lee Jae-myung directed a joint investigation by the police and prosecution, stating that the truth had not been properly determined.
On that day, the prosecution and police stated, "We established the joint investigation team to thoroughly clarify the facts surrounding the Itaewon tragedy and to sternly respond to the secondary harm faced by the victims and their families." The investigation into the incident is directly supervised by the Supreme Public Prosecutors' Office's Criminal Division. The joint investigation team is set up at the Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office, consisting of about 20 members. The team leader is Director General Ha Jun-ho (37th Judicial Research and Training Institute), a senior prosecutor at the Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office.
The establishment of the joint investigation team was directed by President Lee Jae-myung on the 17th. A special law regarding Itaewon was passed in the National Assembly through agreement between the ruling and opposition parties, and last month, the Special Investigation Committee (Special Committee) began its investigation. However, after receiving reports that the bereaved families expressed frustration over a lack of investigative authority, President Lee directed compulsory investigations, stating, "The very facts of the case have not been viewed due to various reasons."
Earlier, on October 29, 2022, a tragedy occurred in an alley in Itaewon, Seoul, during the Halloween Day festival, resulting in the deaths of 158 people and injuries to 312 others as a large crowd gathered. The police and prosecution investigated the incident, leading to the indictment of 23 people, including Park Hee-young, the head of Yongsan District, former Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Chief Kim Kwang-ho, and former Yongsan Police Station Head Lee Im-jae, on charges of professional negligence leading to death.
In the first trial last year, former Yongsan Police Station Head Lee was sentenced to three years in a correctional facility. Park, the head of the district, and former Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Chief Kim were acquitted in the first trial. The second trial proceeded, but the trial for former Yongsan Police Station Head Lee was suspended until the investigation results of the Special Committee were released.