Former Police Chief Sentenced for Evidence Tampering Related to Itaewon Tragedy

A former senior police officer, 박성민 (Park Seong-min), has been sentenced to six months in prison for instructing police staff to delete internal documents related to Halloween preparations following the Itaewon tragedy. The ruling was made by Judge 홍다선 (Hong Da-seon) at the Seoul Western District Court on July 9, 2025. Although the sentence was handed down, the court did not order immediate incarceration.

According to prosecutors, 박 (Park) directed officers within the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency to erase relevant materials between November 2 and 4, 2022, and specifically ordered the deletion of one file stored on a work computer. At the time, he held the rank of 경무관 (Gyeongmugan), which is the fourth highest in the police hierarchy.

The court emphasized the need for a thorough investigation into the causes and circumstances of the tragic incident to prevent future occurrences, stating that the defendant's actions undermined this process by facilitating evidence destruction. The judge noted that 박's attempts to conceal the facts of a national disaster jeopardized the criminal justice system and obstructed the enforcement of state authority.

During the trial, 박's defense argued that he was merely emphasizing proper document management and denied any orders to delete reports related to the Itaewon incident. However, the court concluded that his directives were aimed at minimizing accountability among police officials connected to the tragedy.

Previously, 박 was also charged with instructing the deletion of four reports, including a risk analysis of the Itaewon Halloween festival, which had been prepared by an intelligence officer prior to the incident. He received a separate sentence of one year and six months for those charges in an earlier ruling.