The South Korean police are forming a task force to prevent secondary victimization of people whose family members have died in disasters, in response to President Lee Jae Myung's directive.
According to the Yonhap News Agency on Thursday, the National Police Agency has started recruitment of officers for the unit, tentatively named "investigative team against secondary victimization."
The team will be headed by two superintendent-level officers — mid-level management position usually in charge of department at police stations.
The National Office of Investigation will evaluate the applicants and, if none is deemed fit to carry out the role, will commandeer officers with sufficient experience in investigation and planning.
Last Wednesday, Lee invited 200 family members of victims of tragedies with mass casualties, including the Jeju Air crash last year, an underground tunnel flooding in 2023, the deadly crowd crush in Itaewon, Seoul in 2022, and the sinking of ferry Sewol in 2014. He issued an official apology as the president, and pledged to form an investigative team to prevent secondary damage for bereaved families and survivors.
The presidential office said last Thursday that Lee has ordered officials to compose a joint team of police and prosecutors to closely probe the Itaewon tragedy, while instructing a permanent team to prevent abuse of the victims' families.
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com
