Who is Responsible for Shoddy Investigation? Police Eye Gwangsan Police, Prosecutors Focus on National Office of Investigation

[Anchor]

The prosecution and the police are simultaneously and competitively investigating the same case. The core of this case is who reduced Jang Yoon-ki's rape and murder charges to ordinary murder, which carries a lighter sentence, and why.

Reporter Cho Min-ki breaks down the subtly differing perspectives between the prosecution and the police.

[Reporter]

There are two major issues surrounding the allegations of a shoddy police investigation into the Jang Yoon-ki case.

They are the destruction or omission of evidence during the initial investigation, and the decision to investigate the earlier stalking and sexual offense against a Vietnamese woman separately from the murder case.

Before examining who did what and why, let us look at the investigative command chain.

It runs from the former head of the investigation team at the Gwangju Gwangsan Police Station who handled the initial response, to the former chief of the Gwangsan Police Station, the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency, and finally the head of the National Office of Investigation.

Starting with the Gwangsan Police Station, the former head of the investigation team, who was arrested on charges of destroying evidence, stated, "There was no intention to give Jang Yoon-ki preferential treatment," while the former chief of the Gwangsan Police Station maintained, "I do not know Jang Yoon-ki's father, who is a serving police officer," denying any allegations of a lenient investigation.

The former head of the detective division at the Gwangsan Police Station, whose arrest warrant was dismissed yesterday, claimed, "We requested the National Office of Investigation three times to consolidate the murder and sexual offense cases, but it was not accepted."

Moving up a level from the Gwangsan Police Station:

The Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency maintains that it "acted under the direction of the National Office of Investigation," whereas former National Office of Investigation Head Park Sung-ju drew a line, stating, "I instructed them to handle the matter 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 Team of the National Police Agency's National Office of Investigation—who are concurrently investigating the same matter—appear quite distinct.

First, the police special investigation team is focusing more on the internal decision-making process within the Gwangsan Police Station.

Amid heavy public criticism following the Namyangju stalking murder case, investigators suspect that a shoddy investigation may have been intentional to avoid blame, reprimand, and disciplinary action for failing to properly respond to the preceding stalking and sexual offenses that ultimately led to the murder.

On the other hand, the prosecution believes that the National Office of Investigation—situated at the apex of the case command chain—led to the shoddy investigation by directing the two cases to be handled separately.

While their targets seem different, the two agencies are currently conducting investigations competitively 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 investigation team to avoid controversy surrounding a self-investigation.

(Video editing: Won Hyung-hee, Design: Kim Han-gil)