The interior minister and the police chief have again apologized over the deadly Itaewon crowd crush amid mounting criticism over the government and police's response that night.

At a parliamentary inquiry on Monday, interior and safety minister Lee Sang-min apologized for his previous remark that the crowd in Itaewon on the night of the tragedy was not "worryingly large" and a larger number of dispatched police would not have prevented the accident.

He explained that the remarks were made in response to a reporter asking whether the disaster happened due to a lack of police officers, and his intention was to prevent a hasty conclusion to that effect.

As the tragedy was unfolding, Lee said he did not receive a report from the police, adding that he does not yet have authority to give orders to the police chief even though his ministry oversees the police through a bureau established earlier this year.

Meanwhile, Yoon Hee-keun, commissioner general of the National Police Agency, said he feels responsible for failing to foresee the situation and being outside of Seoul at the time.

Contending no one predicted such an accident could occur, he said that more forces would have been deployed, adding that the 137 officers dispatched on the night was not insignificant compared to past Halloween weekends.

The police and the interior ministry, which oversees the police, have come under fire following revelations that the police did not properly respond to a number of emergency calls about overcrowding in Itaewon throughout the evening.