Unsurprisingly it has been concluded that the protesters were responsible for the deadly fire that killed six people in Yongsan last month:

Civic organizations and the families of those who died in a demonstration in Yongsan last month protest the results of the prosecution’s investigation into the incident on February 9 in front of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office in Seocho-dong, Seoul. The groups say the investigation was biased and herald the “death of the prosecution,” a sentiment that is printed on the banner they are holding.

The prosecution placed blame for the Yongsan tragedy, in which five civilians and one police officer were killed last month, squarely on backs of the people involved in the protest, while clearing the police and public security authorities of any responsibility, citing their duty to protect the public. Protesters were indicted for the death of the police officer, but no punishments were given for the deaths of the five civilians.

The investigative division at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office (headed by Senior Prosecutor Jeong Byeong-du) concluded its investigation into the incident with a press conference Feb. 9, at which it announced its indictment of 20 protesters and seven security guards hired by a private security company to evict tenants.

Though the prosecution placed blame for the incident on the protesters, it cleared police of legal responsibility for their actions. “It has been confirmed that the fire was started after protesters poured paint thinner on the makeshift rooftop tower and threw Molotov cocktails,” the prosecution said.

The prosecution also said that while it was regrettable the police were unprepared to carry out the incident, “it is difficult to say that police were directly responsible for the fire because it wasn’t a situation the police could control.”  [Hankyoreh]

Of course the Hankyoreh isn’t happy about such news, but I find it incredible that anyone could blame the police for what happened after watching this video.  Then again the Korean left would protest and believe anything to score political points against Lee Myung-bak so no one should be surprised by any of this.