Evidence Suggests Jang Yoon-gi Knew Victim, Contradicting Claims of Not Knowing High School Student

▲ Jang Yoon-gi

Police are investigating circumstances suggesting that Jang Yoon-gi (23), who claimed his crime was impulsive, may have unilaterally known the victim before the murder.

The Special Investigation Unit of the National Office of Investigation held a press briefing at the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency today (July 15) to announce the interim results of the investigation into allegations of misconduct regarding the Jang Yoon-gi case.

The special investigation team announced that they discovered evidence suggesting Jang had been unilaterally aware of the victim, the late Lee Chae-won (16), long before the crime took place.

While the team did not disclose specific details regarding the evidence, they explained that it was discovered on a mobile phone (a device without a service plan) that Jang was carrying at the time of his arrest.

An official from the special investigation team stated, "While Lee did not know Jang, there is evidence that can be seen as signs that Jang intentionally targeted Lee," adding, "As this is an ongoing investigation and due to concerns about secondary victimization, we cannot disclose the specific details."

The special investigation team is also looking into why the Gwangsan Police Station investigation team, which was in charge of the murder case, did not investigate these circumstances despite having been aware of them early on.

Jang, who had maintained throughout the police investigation that the crime was impulsive, admitted during his second trial held at the Gwangju District Court on July 13 that the crime was committed with the intent of sexual assault.

At the time of his transfer to the prosecution on May 14, he had denied that the crime was premeditated, claiming to reporters that he did not know the victim was a high school student.

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