▲ This undated photo shows an iron wall extending from Hamilton Hotel, adjoining the site of the deadly 2022 crowd crush in Seoul's Itaewon district. (Yonhap)
▲ The CEO of Hamilton Hotel, which adjoins the site of the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush, enters the Seoul Western District Court on Nov. 29, 2023. (Yonhap)

(LEAD) Itaewon tragedy-hotel chief

(LEAD) CEO of hotel adjoining Itaewon tragedy site fined for illegal extension

(ATTN: UPDATES with more details in paras 5-9; ADDS photo)

SEOUL, Nov. 29 (Yonhap) -- The CEO of a hotel adjoining the site of last year's deadly crowd crush in Seoul was sentenced to a fine Wednesday for an illegal extension that made the narrow accident alley even narrower.

A total of 159 people were killed in the crowd crush on a narrow downhill alley in Seoul's Itaewon district on a Halloween weekend last year.

The CEO of Hamilton Hotel, whose outer wall borders the alley, was indicted in January on charges of installing illegal structures extending to the alley and unlawfully occupying the path.

News media and critics have pointed out the hotel's extended structures may have made the narrow alley even narrower.

The Seoul Western District Court sentenced the 76-year-old CEO, identified only by his family name Lee, to a fine of 8 million won (US$6,200), a decision far lighter than a one-year prison sentence demanded by prosecutors.

Another fine of 8 million won was also imposed on the Hamilton Tourist Co., the operator of the hotel.

Prosecutors suspected that a 21-meter-long iron-paneled wall of the hotel extended about 20 centimeters beyond the allowed boundary, disturbing unhindered passage through the path.

The court, however, dismissed the charge on the grounds that the law violation was not intentional. The court held Lee liable only for the illegal extension of terraces on other sides of the hotel premise.

"I give my words of consolation," Lee said as he was asked to express his position toward the bereaved families of the victims of the tragedy before attending the ruling.

The sentence marks the first court ruling on those indicted in connection with the deadly crowd crush.

Currently, trials are under way for multiple officials indicted on charges related to the bungled disaster and first-aid response, including Yongsan Ward office chief Park Hee-young, who administers the Itaewon district, and former Yongsan Police Station chief Lee Im-jae.

(END)

[ⓒ K-VIBE. 무단전재-재배포 금지]