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Yongsan Ward office chief banned from leaving country amid probe into Itaewon tragedy

November 11, 2022

A special investigation team on Friday banned Yongsan Ward office chief Park Hee-young from leaving the country due to an investigation into the deadly crowd crush in Itaewon that killed at least 156 people, officials said.

The overseas travel ban came as the Yongsan Ward office that administers the Itaewon neighborhood has come under fire, along with the Yongsan Police Station and the Yongsan Fire Station, for a bungled response to the deadly accident on Oct. 29.

Park has been booked on charges of professional negligence resulting in death.

The focus of the investigation into Park is whether she had sufficient disaster prevention planning for the Halloween crowds in advance and whether she was faithful to her duties to promptly respond to the accident.

Park had reportedly been absent in several high-level meetings on public safety management, hosted by the district office in the few days before the deadly crush.

Also under scrutiny is whether the ward office’s ordinance, adopted in April, allowing restaurants in its district to double as clubs had anything to do with the accident’s high death toll.

Yongsan Ward office chief Park Hee-young attends a parliamentary session in Seoul on Nov. 7, 2022. (Yonhap)

Yongsan Ward office chief Park Hee-young attends a parliamentary session in Seoul on Nov. 7, 2022. (Yonhap)