Police hit for mishandling Ansan siege

No manual exists for negotiators in hostage situations

By Lee Kyung-min

Public criticism is mounting over an inept police response during Tuesday’s hostage siege in which two people died in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province.

A man surnamed Kim took four hostages at the home of his wife's ex-husband, surnamed Park. They were Kim's two stepdaughters, Park and his female friend.

Kim demanded to talk to his wife, who had been separated from him since August. During the siege, Kim killed Park and his younger daughter who was 16.

Public said police were disorganized during the whole situation, and failed to get the basic facts straight.

Police first said that Kim took his own daughters hostage, but later said they were his stepdaughters.

The police also failed to realize early in the siege that Park’s female friend was one of the hostages. Police only learned that after the siege ended.

A police official at Ansan Sangrok Police Station said, “Such a failure was regrettable, but the situation was unfavorable to us. Kim was in an agitated state, yelling and cursing the whole time, unwilling to negotiate.”

Kim’s anger allegedly was triggered when his wife asked him on the phone: “Why do you live like this?”

Some critics said police should have controlled communications between the two to prevent such a “provocative” comment.

But the official said the conversation between Kim and his wife happened before police negotiators arrived.

Even then, negotiations did not go smoothly ― which experts said was partly because there was no manual for negotiating in hostage situations.

“There is no manual for the negotiators,” said Choi Seong-jae, a criminology professor and senior inspector at the Korean National Police University.

“The existing ones are all about direction, team management, protocols, and who has the authority to order and who is held accountable for which action,” he said. “It’s all about procedural guidelines, not specific instructions.”

The hostage standoff lasted more than five hours after the wife called police at around 9:30 a.m.

A police SWAT team finally stormed Park’s house by breaking a window after Kim did not answer the phone.

Asked if the younger daughter would still be alive if the SWAT team had intervened sooner, Choi said, “No.”

“People think a prompt crackdown may save as many lives as possible, but such action would only further agitate the hostage-taker, causing him to kill more,” he said.

Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency Chief Kim Jong-yang, who was ultimately responsible for controlling the situation, came under fire for not arriving sooner at the scene, even after he had learned about the situation.

After being told about the siege before 10 a.m., he went as planned for a public discussion with residents at Namyangju. He did not arrive at the hostage scene until about noon.