Korea, Japan investigate deadly fire

From: JoongAng Daily | Nov. 17, 2009
By: Kim Sang-jin, Jeong Seon-eon

Authorities bar journalists from site of the blaze

BUSAN - With an investigation underway into the cause of a fire at an indoor shooting range here on Saturday, authorities from Korea and Japan are trying to work through cultural and procedural differences in their approach to police work.

Korean police officers yesterday formed a human blockade on the sixth floor of the Hotel Commodore in Busan, turning back anyone other than guests at the hotel.

Families of the Japanese victims are staying in the hotel, and one of the officers explained, “We don’t want journalists or anyone else disturbing the grieving relatives.”

Police officers could also be seen standing guard at Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, just outside the city, where the victims’ bodies have been sent.

The Busan Metropolitan Police Agency said the Japanese Consulate General in the city had specifically asked for the level of protection after watching Korean photojournalists snap shots of them as Korean Prime Minister Chung Un-chan expressed his condolences Sunday evening.

Korean authorities tend to give journalists leeway to cover incidents of this nature. Reporters often accompany investigators to on-site inspections for fires, but they weren’t granted access this time.

Police said they would not allow journalists to enter the damaged shooting range until the cause of the fire has been determined because they don’t want to upset their Japanese counterparts.

There is also an issue of autopsies. In Korea, autopsies may be performed without relatives’ consent as long as a court issues a special verification warrant. But in this case, the Japanese families have opposed the procedure.

Through the identification process yesterday, Busan police altered the number of Japanese casualties from eight to seven.

According to police, one of the victims was a 32-year-old Korean man named Lee, who worked at the shooting range.

The Lee family had positively identified a bracelet on the man’s right hand and a watch on his left.

While investigators were working through the case yesterday, rumor mills were churning out unsubstantiated theories, including one that claimed the Yakuza, a Japanese crime syndicate, had set the range on fire after a run-in with Korean mobsters.

The rumor prompted Kim Jung-hwak, chief of the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency, to hold a press conference for clarification.

The Korean government continued to express its condolences yesterday. President Lee Myung-bak wrote to Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and the Foreign Ministry released a statement to surviving relatives.