FIREFIGHTERS SUE INTERIOR MINISTER

[Anchor Lead]

With the Itaewon crowd crush probe facing criticism for shielding senior officials, the unionized firefighters on Monday filed a complaint against Interior Minister Lee Sang-min. The investigators are looking into the scope of Lee's accountability for the tragedy.

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[Soundbite] "Punish those responsible immediately!"

Unionized firefighters have filed a complaint to the police against the Interior Minister Lee Sang-min for dereliction of duty and occupational negligence resulting in death and injury. They are also calling for Minister Lee's resignation.

[Soundbite] Ko Jin-young(Firefighters union) : "We believe that Interior Minister Lee Sang-min, who oversees disasters and safety, is the one who should be held the most accountable."

The firefighters lashed out at the investigators for summoning only frontline responders from the police and fire departments and even treating them as suspects while shielding the interior minister, who is in charge of both organizations. The special investigation headquarters investigating the deadly crowd crush has so far only reiterated it was conducting a legal review of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's authority. In a Monday briefing, the investigators again said they were reviewing if the interior minister has the authority to command police responses under the Government Organization Act. They added that if the interior minister is charged with dereliction of duty, it would constitute a crime conducted by a senior public official under the High-ranking Public Officials Corruption Investigation Agency Act. If the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials decides to investigate the matter, the case would have to be transferred. This week the special investigation headquarters will subpoena suspects. Among those at the top of the list are former Yongsan Police Station chief Lee Im-jae, who oversaw public security in the Itaewon area, and the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency situation manager Ryu Mi-jin, who was in charge of situation monitoring at the time of the deadly stampede. Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Superintendent General Park Sung-min has been temporarily suspended for his alleged involvement in erasing an intelligence report. A former intelligence officer from the Yongsan Police Station, who had already been booked for investigations as a suspect, has been summoned and questioned.