According to Overseas Network, January 4, according to Yonhap News Agency reported on November 4, South Korea’s Special Committee for National Affairs Investigation held its first hearing on the Itaewon stampede incident that day. Yoon Hee-geun, the "top leader" of the South Korean police force and director of the National Police Agency, admitted at the meeting that the day of the incident was Saturday, and he and his friends went out for hiking and drank.
In November 2022, South Korean Police Agency Director Yoon Hee-geun bowed and apologized to the public (data map)
A Korean opposition party member asked Yoon Hee-geun at a hearing "whether he drank alcohol on the day of the incident." Yoon Hee-geun admitted for the first time that he drank alcohol that day. He said that on the evening of October 29, 2022, he used his weekend break to go hiking with his friends in Jecheon City, North Chungcheong Province, and slept at a nearby campsite at 11 p.m. He did not notice the reports sent to him at 11:32 and 52 p.m., and did not learn about the situation until he received a call at 0:14 on the 30th.
The controversial point of the Special Committee for National Affairs Investigation is whether Yoon Hee-geun went to bed without knowing anything about the stampede because he was drunk. Yonhap News Agency stated that although drinking alcohol on holidays is not illegal, Seoul City issued multiple rally notices that day, and the police should have known in advance that many people would go out to participate in Halloween activities. Yoon Hee-geun responded that he believed that there was nothing wrong with his drinking, "I occasionally drink on weekend nights." He was also dissatisfied with opposition members pursuing his drinking. (Wang Shanning)
editor Deng Shuhong
