Separate Investigations for Same Suspect Jang Yoon-gi: Authorities Probe Potential Intent

[Anchor]

Jang Yoon-gi is also accused of sexually assaulting a foreign woman shortly before murdering a high school girl. However, the Gwangsan Police Station investigated the two crimes committed by Jang separately at the time. A special police investigation team is now looking into whether the leadership at the Gwangsan station, fearing disciplinary action, intentionally separated the cases to obscure any connection to a related crime.

Report by An Huijae.

[Reporter]

On May 3, two days before Jang Yoon-gi murdered the high school girl, a report was filed with 112 by a Vietnamese woman, identified as A.

She reported that Jang, who had worked with her at a part-time job, appeared to be stalking her.

[Police Official (SBS 'Unanswered Questions'): "She said, 'A Korean man seems to be following me.' We sent a warning message via text because (Jang) did not answer the phone."]

The following day, A filed a complaint alleging that she had been sexually assaulted by Jang. The case, initially filed at the Chilgok Police Station in North Gyeongsang Province, was transferred to the Gwangsan Police Station in Gwangju after Jang was arrested.

However, the case involving A was forwarded to the prosecution separately, about a week after the high school girl murder case was sent.

Instead of assigning the case to the detective division, which was in charge of the Jang Yoon-gi investigation, the Gwangsan station separated the case and assigned it to the Women and Youth Affairs Division for a separate investigation.

The special police investigation team is verifying whether there was an ulterior motive behind this decision-making process.

While separate assignment is the standard procedure, it is considered highly unusual not to assign A's case to the detective division, as major violent crimes are typically investigated through a consolidated approach.

The former head of the investigation team at the Gwangsan station, who was referred to the prosecution under detention yesterday (July 15), reportedly stated during a recent questioning that "the intention was to investigate A's case together, but it was separated for unknown reasons."

[Kim Young-sik, Professor of Police Administration at Soonchunhyang University: "Since it is the same suspect, it is rational to merge the cases and handle them in one department. It is either a lapse in judgment or there was another motive."]

The special team has requested a pre-trial detention warrant for Superintendent Park, the former head of the detective division and the superior of the investigation team leader at the time.

It is alleged that Park instructed the team to charge Jang with general murder, which carries a lighter sentence than rape-murder, despite internal opinions within the investigation team. Park reportedly denied the charges, claiming he was not the one who led the decision to apply the murder charge.

(Video reporting: Joo Yong-jin, Video editing: Choi Hye-ran)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.