INVESTIGATION EXPAND TO TOP OFFICIALS

[Anchor Lead]

The special investigation headquarters investigating the Itaewon crowd crush is summoning officials from the Interior Ministry and the Seoul metropolitan government, currently as witnesses. It's the first time the probe was expanded to senior police, fire department and the Seoul metropolitan government since the tragedy happened more than two weeks ago.

[Pkg]

The National Disaster and Safety Status Control Center is the first entity at the Interior Ministry to be investigated by the special investigation headquarters. Affiliated directly with the minister and the vice minister, the center acts as a control tower that passes on reports from police and fire departments to relevant institutions in times of disaster. Investigators first summoned the center's two working-level officials and investigated its chief as a witness. They were questioned about various details including the time the situation reports on the crowd crush was received as well as response measures taken. Officials might conduct a compulsory investigation of the center to obtain the records of communication with police and fire authorities. In that case, Interior Ministry officials will be booked for questioning. An official from the Seoul metropolitan government, which oversees the Yongsan-gu District office, has also been subpoenaed as a witness. The official is from a safety management department that devises safety plans for festivals. One of the investigators said this does not mean that the Interior Ministry and the Seoul metropolitan government have been found accountable for the Itaewon disaster, and a conclusion will be reached after investigating the witnesses and conducting an additional legal review. A police official has also been summoned for the first time as a suspect. It's a former intel officer who is allegedly involved in erasing an intel report drawn by the Yongsan Police Station to warn of a possible safety accident.

[Soundbite] (Former Yongsan Police Station intel officer(VOICE MODIFIED)) : "(Did the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency tell you to erase the report?) I will answer the investigators' questions as much as I can."

Former Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency superintendent general Park Sung-min, who has been suspended over the same allegation, is to be summoned soon. Others to be summoned this week include former Yongsan Police Station chief Lee Im-jae and former Seoul Metropolitan Government situation manager Ryu Mi-jin, who was on duty at the time of the crowd crush. Separately from the special investigation headquarters, the National Police Agency's special inspection team has suspended police superintendent Lee Yong-wook for belatedly reporting the situation to the commander on the Itaewon disaster.