Police Chief Maintains Stance on Abolishing Prosecutors' Supplementary Investigation Power Despite Corruption Scandal

Amid growing controversy over allegations of shoddy investigations and collusion by police in the Jang Yun-gi case, Yoo Jae-sung, Acting Commissioner General of the Korean National Police Agency, stated, "One should not link the Jang Yun-gi case with the prosecutors' supplementary investigation power."

During a press conference at the National Police Agency today (July 20), Acting Commissioner General Yoo said that the police have sufficiently reviewed ways to achieve the effects of supplementary investigations solely through requests for such investigations, adding that they could design a system that ensures no harm comes to the public.

He further emphasized, "Even now, requests for supplementary investigations are being made in most cases, and most issues are being resolved through these requests."

Although the investigation team's attempts to downplay and cover up the Jang Yun-gi case—which could have been buried—were uncovered through the prosecutors' supplementary investigation, he maintained his position on abolishing the prosecutors' power to request such investigations.

Acting Commissioner General Yoo proposed measures such as consultations between police and prosecutors for cases nearing the statute of limitations, allowing prosecutors to request changes to investigation teams or offices when requesting supplementary investigations, and implementing a mutual evaluation system between prosecutors and police investigators.

At the press conference, the police announced that the investigation team handling secondary victimization at the National Police Agency and the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency is investigating 14 instances of secondary victimization against the victimized high school student.

Previously, the special investigation team of the National Police Agency, which is investigating the shoddy handling of the Jang Yun-gi case, stated in a recent interim briefing that "there were circumstances suggesting that Jang Yun-gi might have known the victim beforehand."

The bereaved family protested, saying, "They are causing secondary victimization by announcing unverified facts."

A police official stated, "The content was mentioned while briefing on the process of clearly investigating all suspicions and possibilities," adding, "We will be careful to ensure that the pain of the bereaved family is not triggered again during the investigation process."

Reported by Kim Jiuk | Video by Hong Jin-young | Graphics by Yook Do-hyun | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.