National Police Agency Commissioner General Yoon Hee-keun has admitted to having drinks after hiking during a trip to Jecheon in North Chungcheong Province on the day of the Itaewon crowd crush.

Yoon made the affirmation on Wednesday during the first hearing of the special parliamentary committee investigating the tragedy after being asked by Democratic Party Rep. Cho Eung-cheon whether he consumed alcohol on the tragic day.

It marked the first time the police chief explicitly acknowledged that he drank that day.

Yoon was found to have become aware of the crowd surge some two hours after its occurrence. He had missed a text message and a call from subordinates alerting him to the tragedy after he went to bed at a campsite in Jecheon.

Yoon also admitted that he had failed to enter into the police system his departure from Seoul, placing him out of jurisdiction.