Two Weeks Before Jang Yoon-gi's Arrest, Meeting Held for "Active Consolidated Investigation"

[Anchor]

We continue with our exclusive coverage regarding the Jang Yoon-gi case. It has been confirmed that two weeks before the Gwangju Gwangsan Police Station apprehended high school student murder suspect Jang Yoon-gi, officials from the National Police Agency and the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency gathered at the Gwangsan station for a meeting. During this session, directives from the police leadership emphasizing strict responses to relationship-based crimes, such as stalking, were discussed. Just days later, an official directive from the National Police Agency even arrived instructing authorities to actively consolidate related crimes, but the handling of the case by the Gwangsan station when the incident ultimately occurred was different.

This is an exclusive report by reporter An Huijae.

[Reporter]

The National Police Agency's task force team on relationship-based crimes visited the Gwangju Gwangsan Police Station on April 21.

This came about a month after President Lee Jae-myung publicly reprimanded the police over poor responses to a stalking murder case in Namyangju.

[President Lee Jae-myung (last March): Isn't it true that such horrific crimes could not be prevented due to the (police's) complacent response?...]

At the meeting, which brought together some 20 people including senior officials from the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency and working-level staff from the Gwangsan station, the comprehensive measures on relationship-based crimes pursued by the National Police Agency to address the aftermath of the Namyangju stalking murder case were put on the table.

An attendee of the meeting explained in a phone call with SBS that "it was a session to re-emphasize the policy of responding strictly to relationship-based crimes such as stalking and dating violence."

Six days after the meeting, specific guidelines from the National Police Agency's National Office of Investigation were also handed down to the Gwangsan station.

The official document mentioned the dangers of repeated relationship-based crimes and repeatedly emphasized the "activation of consolidated investigations."

Clear criteria were also presented stating that cases should be consolidated into the police station and investigation team that first received the report.

Just a week later, high school student murder suspect Jang Yoon-gi was arrested, but rather than consolidating the cases, the police opted for separate investigations and applied the charge of simple murder instead of rape-murder.

This choice directly contradicted the prior guidelines set by the police leadership. The police special investigation unit suspects that the Gwangsan station leadership intentionally sought to sever the connection between the high school student murder case and a previous relationship-based crime targeting a Vietnamese woman.

Amid intensifying pressure following the Namyangju stalking murder case, investigators suspect that the leadership was concerned about highlighting the fact that they had failed to even book Jang Yoon-gi when the earlier stalking crime was reported.

The police special investigation unit has secured records of the National Police Agency's task force meeting and official documents from that time, analyzing their connection to the shoddy investigation into the Jang Yoon-gi case.

(Video Reported by Bae Moon-san, Video Edited by Kim Yun-sung, Design by Cho Su-in and Hwang Se-yeon, Data Provided by the Office of People Power Party Lawmaker Park Soo-min)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.