South Korea’s President Lee orders new investigation team to look into deadly Halloween 2022 crush

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A file photo from Nov 2, 2022, showing tributes near the site of a crowd crush that happened during Halloween festivities on Oct 29, 2022, in Seoul.

PHOTO: REUTERS

SEOUL - South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has ordered the setting up of a new investigation team, involving the police and prosecutors, to look into the deadly Halloween crowd crush that killed 159, mostly young people on Oct 29, 2022, his spokesperson said on July 17.

Mr Lee’s move to launch a new probe came as he met the bereaved families of victims from recent major disasters, including the Halloween crush in Seoul’s Itaewon district, his spokesperson Kang Yu-jung told a briefing.

Mr Lee, who took office in June, has promised to make the country safer and to prevent any repeat of the disasters in recent years that have often been blamed on the inadequate response by the authorities.

The President said the new investigation team would work alongside a special commission that was launched in September 2024 to look into the case, according to the spokesperson.

At the meeting with Mr Lee, Ms Song Hae-jin, a representative for the families of the crush victims, said police records and information regarding the government’s response to the disaster had been withheld from the special commission.

During his meeting with the bereaved families, Mr Lee bowed deeply as he apologised for any failures by the authorities.

As the head of the state, I would like to formally apologise on behalf of the government