The prosecution and the police are simultaneously and competitively investigating the same issue. The core of this case is who reduced Jang Yoon-ki's rape and murder charges to a regular murder charge with a lighter sentence, and why.
Reporter Cho Min-ki breaks down the subtly conflicting perspectives of the prosecution and the police.
There are two major issues surrounding the allegations of shoddy police investigation in the Jang Yoon-ki case.
One is the destruction or omission of evidence during the initial investigation, and the other is the separate investigation of the earlier stalking and sexual crime against a Vietnamese woman, detached from the murder case.
Before examining who did what and why, let us look at the investigation command line.
It stretches from the former head of the investigation team at the Gwangju Gwangsan Police Station who handled the initial response, to the former chief of Gwangsan Police Station, the Gwangju Provincial Police Agency, and finally the head of the National Office of Investigation.
Starting with Gwangsan Station, the former head of the investigation team, who was arrested on charges of destroying evidence, stated, "There was no intention to go easy on Jang Yoon-ki," while the former chief of Gwangsan Station also claimed, "I do not know Jang Yoon-ki's father, who is a serving police officer," denying any preferential treatment in the investigation.
The former head of the detective division at Gwangsan Station, whose arrest warrant was dismissed yesterday, claimed, "We requested the National Office of Investigation three times to consolidate the murder and sex crime cases, but it was not accepted."
Moving up the ladder from Gwangsan Station.
The Gwangju Provincial Police Agency maintains that it "acted under the direction of the National Office of Investigation," while former National Office of Investigation chief Park Sung-joo drew a line, stating, "I told them to handle it according to the manual."
While statements vary depending on each individual's position and circumstances, the perspectives of the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office and the Special Investigation Unit of the National Police Agency's National Office of Investigation—which are simultaneously investigating the same matter—appear quite different.
First, the police special unit is focusing more on the internal decision-making process at Gwangsan Station.
They suspect whether a shoddy investigation was deliberately conducted to avoid criticism, reprimand, and disciplinary action—especially after heavy public backlash following the Namyangju stalking murder case—over the police's failure to properly respond to the preceding stalking and sex crimes, which ultimately led to the murder.
On the other hand, the prosecution believes that the National Office of Investigation, standing at the pinnacle of the case command chain, caused the shoddy handling by directing the two cases to be investigated separately.
While their targets seem different, the two sides are still competitively investigating at this stage.
However, with the former head of the National Office of Investigation being mentioned as a subject of the investigation, it has become difficult for the police special unit to avoid controversy over a "self-investigation."
(Video Editing: Won Hyeong-hee, Design: Kim Han-gil)
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