South Korean police chief feels “heavy responsibility” for Halloween crowd crush

Law enforcement officials in South Korea admitted their culpability on Tuesday for failing to correctly respond to a festival crowd crush in Seoul that left more than 150 individuals dead.

Amidst massive rising scrutiny over Saturday’s catastrophe, Yoon Hee Keun, chief of South Korea’s National Police Agency, apologized for the insufficient police response throughout the crowd crush.

“I feel a heavy responsibility as the head of one of the related government offices,” Yoon mentioned during a press conference, per The Associated Press. “Police will do their best to prevent a tragedy like this from happening again.”

The crush, which occurred in Seoul’s popular Itaewon District during a Halloween festival, marked South Korea’s deadliest disaster since 2014. Following the incident, a law enforcement investigation reportedly found that dozens of individuals had called emergency services as the stampede unfolded. Nevertheless, Yoon stated law enforcement officials who answered the calls had failed to correctly respond.

Yoon added that an internal probe into the police response had been launched. The probe is reportedly investigating the emergency calls in addition to the presence of first responders in the area, AP reported.

Yoon was not the only public official to express regret for the lackluster response. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon overtly wept during a separate press conference, saying, “I’m sorry for the delay in apologizing.”

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol admitted during a cabinet meeting that South Korea didn’t have sufficient preparations for crowd management, and called for new systems to be put in place.