[Exclusive] “Itaewon disaster 119 radio manipulation and omission allegations”… Bereaved families file first criminal complaint

A family in Itaewon has filed criminal charges against 10 former firefighters, alleging manipulation and omission of radio communications during the 2019 Itaewon tragedy. This marks the first instance of such a case initiated by the affected family. The victim's grandmother, Kang Min-ha, presented the charges to the 2019 Itaewon Tragic Incident Special Investigation Committee on behalf of 10 former firefighters, including former Seoul Fire Station Director Nam Hyung-young and former U-San Fire Station Chief Choi Sung-beom, among others. The charges include forgery of official documents, tampering with evidence, and abuse of power.

The family obtained 1,053 recordings of firefighters' radio communications from the Itaewon Special Investigation Committee. Upon reviewing the metadata of these recordings, they discovered that the files were modified as a group from October 30, 2022, 3:36 PM to 3:48 PM, 12 minutes in total. The family argues that a normal original file would have the modification date recorded as either October 29, 2022, in the afternoon or November 2, 2022, during the police interrogation.

The continuous modification of 12 minutes of recording raises doubts about the original recordings' authenticity, suggesting intentional manipulation.

The family also criticized the firefighters' bureau for not submitting the original recordings but only transcripts for a recent parliamentary inquiry. They claim that the bureau responded falsely to questions from the basic living wage Democratic Party lawmaker regarding the control units and emergency response management during the incident.

The lawmaker noted that no information on control unit activation during the disaster was found, and only falsified records were submitted to the parliament. The family plans to further challenge the initial response, lack of immediate medical care, and the high death toll. Other families are also joining in the direct examination of evidence.