Police Special Investigation Team: "Jang Yoon-gi Had No Prior Acquaintance with Deceased High School Student"

▲ Jang Yoon-gi

It has been confirmed that Jang Yoon-gi, the perpetrator of the high school student murder, and the victim did not know each other in any capacity.

The Special Investigation Team for Fact-Finding on the Jang Yoon-gi Case under the National Office of Investigation stated today that "Jang Yoon-gi and the victim were not acquaintances."

During a press briefing on the 15th, the special investigation team announced, "We have discovered circumstances suggesting that Jang Yoon-gi unilaterally knew the victim before the murder," and initiated additional investigations to check the possibility of a "targeted crime."

The circumstances in question were reportedly found in the social media usage history of a spare smartphone Jang Yoon-gi was carrying when arrested.

The special investigation team explained that they launched the additional investigation to rectify the errors made by the responsible investigation team at the Gwangju Gwangsan Police Station, who failed to verify even crucial factual relations in the early stages of the case.

After conducting multifaceted additional investigations, including the execution of search and seizure warrants, the special investigation team concluded that the previously announced information was not true.

Immediately following the special investigation team's announcement on the 15th, secondary victimization involving insults and slander against the victim and her family took place online, and false reports even emerged claiming that photographs of the victim were found on Jang Yoon-gi's mobile phone.

As it became known that the police had prematurely announced speculative details without consulting the victim's family, an official from the special investigation team visited the bereaved family on the evening of the announcement to apologize.

Meanwhile, it was reported that the frontline investigation team at the Gwangsan Police Station, which initially handled the Jang Yoon-gi case, had also investigated the possibility of a targeted crime in the early stages of the investigation based on clues similar to those of the special investigation team.

At the time, the investigation team verified that the suspicious clues from Jang Yoon-gi's smartphone belonged to the account of a social media user who only shared the same name as the victim.

(Photo: Yonhap News)

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