Exclusive: Police Investigate Higher-Ups Over Alleged Attempt to Downplay Jang Yoon-gi Case as 'Relational Crime'

The police unit investigating allegations of investigative misconduct in the Jang Yoon-gi case have uncovered evidence suggesting that the chief of the Gwangju Gwangsan Police Station issued instructions to ensure that Jang's crimes were not linked to relational crimes, SBS has learned.

The police special investigation team suspects that the Gwangsan Police leadership, aiming to avoid accountability amid ongoing internal disciplinary actions following controversies over poor police responses to relational crimes—such as the stalking murder case in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province—pressured investigators to charge Jang with general murder instead of rape-murder.

The special investigation team recently secured testimony indicating that the decision to charge Jang with general murder was made because "Superintendent Kim of the Gwangsan Police Station intended to prevent the circumstances of Jang's prior relational crimes from being highlighted."

According to the testimony, upon receiving a report that Jang had not only stalked and attempted sexual crimes against a foreign woman but also murdered a high school girl, Superintendent Kim mentioned the controversy surrounding the poor police response to the stalking case in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, and allegedly said, "We must be careful. We should ensure that talk of relational crimes does not come up as much as possible."

In March, public outrage erupted after it was revealed that a woman in her 20s, who was under police protection, was murdered by her stalker in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province.

The police, acting on orders from President Lee Jae-myung, launched an inspection in early April, disciplining over 10 individuals, including the police station chief, and made efforts to contain the situation by conducting a full inspection of relational crimes.

The special investigation team suspects that when the Jang Yoon-gi case occurred less than a month later, Superintendent Kim, who was in charge of the investigation, attempted to downplay the case out of fear that the repercussions would grow.

The special investigation team believes that Superintendent Kim's instructions were relayed to the investigation team leader, Inspector A, through the head of the criminal division, Superintendent Park, and that these instructions played a decisive role in silencing internal opinions from the investigation team that Jang should be charged with rape-murder.

Based on these findings, the special investigation team has booked Superintendent Kim, Superintendent Park, and Inspector A on charges of abuse of power and has reportedly secured some physical evidence.

The special investigation team today referred Inspector A to the prosecution under arrest for charges including limiting the scope of Jang's crimes to murder and excluding details related to sexually motivated crimes from the investigation report. The team is also currently questioning Superintendent Park as a suspect.

With expectations growing that the summoning of Superintendent Kim for questioning is inevitable, the special investigation team is expanding its probe to determine whether there was any involvement from even higher-ranking officials.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.