Prosecutors and Police Raid National Office of Investigation Over Jang Yoon-gi Case Allegations

[Anchor]

Prosecutors and police investigating allegations of misconduct in the Jang Yoon-gi case have launched simultaneous raids on the National Office of Investigation (NOI) at the National Police Agency. The investigation is expanding to determine the extent of involvement by senior police officials in the alleged downplaying and cover-up of charges during the investigation into Jang Yoon-gi.

Reporter An Huijae has the story.

[Reporter]

The special police investigation team announced that it began executing search and seizure warrants at the National Office of Investigation at 7:30 a.m. today (July 21).

The raid, which targets offices including the Violent Crimes Investigation Division, marks the first time the NOI has been subject to a compulsory investigation since the launch of the special investigation team for the Jang Yoon-gi case.

The special investigation team explained that the raid is intended to verify the overall reporting and command structure during the initial investigation into Jang Yoon-gi.

The team aims to determine whether the NOI intervened in the process of applying the charge of general murder, which carries a lighter sentence, rather than rape and murder, despite internal opinions from the investigation team at Gwangju Gwangsan Police Station.

Based on statements from individuals such as former Gwangju Gwangsan Police Station Criminal Investigation Division Chief, Superintendent Park, the special investigation team suspects that the NOI may have been behind the decision last May to assign Jang Yoon-gi's high school student murder case and the stalking and rape case of a Vietnamese woman to separate investigation teams.

Superintendent Park reportedly stated during questioning that he had considered consolidating the two cases, but was instructed by the NOI to split the investigation between the Women and Juvenile Affairs Division and the criminal investigation team.

About an hour earlier, investigators from the Gwangju District Prosecutors Office also began raids on the offices of the NOI's Violent Crimes Investigation Division Chief and the Women and Juvenile Affairs Division Chief.

With prosecutors and police now targeting the NOI after having already raided the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency and Gwangju Gwangsan Police Station—which were responsible for the practical command of the Jang Yoon-gi investigation—analysts suggest that the probe into senior police officials is now in full swing.

The special investigation team, which conducted its first prison interview with Jang Yoon-gi at Gwangju Correctional Institution yesterday, plans to summon working-level officials from the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency's violent crimes team as witnesses today to reconstruct the initial investigation process.

A decision on whether to arrest Superintendent Park, the former criminal investigation division chief at Gwangsan Police Station, is expected as early as this afternoon. Park has been identified as the individual who allegedly acted as a bridge between former Gwangsan Police Station Chief, Senior Superintendent Kim, and the investigation team leader who was referred to the prosecution under arrest, and is accused of leading the application of the general murder charge.

(Video reporting: Choi Dae-woong, Video editing: Park Chun-bae)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.