A COURT in Seoul has found the former police chief of the country’s capital and two other officers not guilty over a botched response to a Halloween crowd crush that killed nearly 160 people in 2022.

A Seoul district court on Thursday ruled that Kim Kwang-ho, the former chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, was not guilty of negligence before and during the deadly Halloween crowd crush on Oct. 29, 2022, in Itaewon, central Seoul.

Kim Kwang-ho has been found not guilty of negligence that led to the deaths of 159 revellers in the 2022 tragedy.

The court found 'insufficient proof' that he violated his specific and direct duty of care. Read more at straitstimes.com.

A South Korean court has acquitted Seoul's former police chief, Kim Kwang-ho, of negligence in connection with the deadly Halloween crowd crush that claimed 159 lives in the bustling Itaewon district in October 2022.

A South Korean court found the former police chief of the country’s capital, Seoul, not guilty over a botched response to a Halloween crowd crush that killed nearly 160 people in 2022

A South Korean court ruled on Thursday that Seoul's former police chief was not guilty of negligence in the response to a Halloween crowd crush in the capital's Itaewon nightlife district that killed 159 revellers in 2022.

The verdict drew angry responses from grieving relatives and their advocates, who accused the court of refusing to hold high-level officials accountable.

Kim Kwang-ho, the former head of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, was the most senior official to face criminal charges over the 2022 disaster that killed 159 people.

A Seoul court on Thursday acquitted a former head of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA) over the deadly 2022 Halloween crowd crush, citing lack of evidence linking his professional negligence to the tragedy.