INTERIOR MINISTER BOOKED AS SUSPECT

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Now turning to the Itaewon crowd crush investigation. Earlier a labor union of fire officials filed a complaint against interior minister Lee Sang-min, as he stands as a suspect. A special police team looking into the crowd crush says they will continue to investigate Lee's complaint even as his case is transfered to the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, because a Cabinet minister constitutes a ranking official. The key to the investigation lies in whether the interior minister is viewed responsible for commanding the police force.

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Interior minister Lee Sang-min has been formally booked for investigation following a complaint filed by firefighters. The investigation from hereafter will be two-pronged. The first portion relates to his command of the police as dictated by the Government Organization Act. The law states the National Police Agency is under the interior minister's oversight so as to better manage public order-related affairs. While preparing to launch a police bureau within the ministry earlier this year, Lee gave this remark citing this ordinance.

[Soundbite] Lee Sang-min(Minister of Interior and Safety(Jun. 27)) : "Under law, the minister has the right to command, oversee and frequently check whether police affairs were properly managed even though he is not directly involved in detailed operations."

Based on his remark, Lee indeed has the responsibility to command and oversee the police's response on the night of the Itaewon disaster. The special police team investigating the crowd crush case is conducting a legal review to determine the scope of the minister's command over the police in individual situational scenarios. The interior ministry argues the original intent of the police bureau was not reflected in actual command regulations. And therefore the minister did not hold public order-related command rights in relation to the latest disaster. The other aspect to Lee's investigation concerns the minister's role stipulated under the Disaster Safety Act. In accordance with this law, state agencies and local governments are responsible for disaster management. One official said they will examine whether a concrete, direct culpability can be tied to the minister that goes beyond such abstract language in the law. The probe team explained that their earlier interview of civil servants and the chief of the interior ministry's safety situation room was in line with this particular task of trying to determine the scope of the minister's responsibility. On Wednesday, more figures were questioned related to the crowd crush including officials at Yongsan police and fire stations, the Yongsan district office and the 112 emergency hotline. Another separate case involving a media outlet which faces a complaint for disclosing the identity of the crush victims has been assigned to an anti-corruption unit at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.