137 cops to manage 100k: Seoul police under fire

Deployment Of So Few Officers Shows Poor Preparation, Say Experts

Seoul: Seoul police assigned 137 officers to manage a crowd of Halloween revellers anticipated to number over 1,00,000 over the weekend — a decision that has come under intense criticism following the deaths of more than 150 people when the group surged. By comparison, nearly 7,000 police officers were sent to another part of the South Korean capital on Saturday to monitor duelling protests that drew tens of thousands but still fewer people than flocked to Itaewon the same night. Even the task force created to investigate why the crowd surged, with 475 members, is more three times larger than the detail assigned to crowd control.