Police Headquarters Launches Inspection Following Controversy Over 'Father' of Suspect

[Anchor]

As the controversy surrounding the father of Jang Yun-gi continues to grow, the National Police Agency has launched an inspection to verify the facts, including the investigation process and allegations of evidence tampering. This move by the higher authority comes just one day after an exclusive report by SBS, suggesting that the agency is conscious of the significant repercussions of this situation.

Here is the report by An Huijae.

[Reporter]

This is the notice sent by the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency to the press corps this afternoon (July 2).

The agency had planned to "announce the results of the fact-finding mission regarding the SBS report," but instead wrote that it would "re-announce at a later date as more thorough fact-finding is required."

The agency changed its position after attempting to issue an official explanation following yesterday's exclusive SBS report regarding the father of Jang Yun-gi, who is an active-duty police officer. An uncomfortable atmosphere was palpable within the Gwangju police throughout the day.

Some reactions included, "The era when investigations into a son's crimes were neglected because the father is a police officer is over," and "We focused on proving the murder charges, and the real doll was not seized because it was not direct evidence of the murder."

While there were reports that the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency had launched an inspection into Jang Yun-gi's father, an official from the Gwangju agency stated, "It is difficult to call it an inspection at this stage; we are currently verifying the facts at the agency level."

Subsequently, the National Police Agency stepped in directly.

The National Police Agency announced through a statement, "We will verify the facts through an inspection regarding the shortcomings in the investigation process and the allegations of evidence tampering by Jang Yun-gi's father."

Usually, inspections of police officers at the rank of inspector are handled by regional police agencies, but the headquarters has taken direct action in light of the gravity of the matter.

A National Police Agency official explained, "This measure was taken in consideration of the possibility that suspicions of collusion or other rumors could arise in the local community, given that an active-duty police officer is involved."

The National Police Agency plans to focus its investigation on the history of reports to superiors at the time of the investigation, the appropriateness of measures taken to preserve evidence, and the possibility of the investigation details being leaked in advance.

(Video reporting: Jeong Gyeong-mun | Video editing: Choi Hye-ran | Design: Jang Chae-woo)

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