Who is Responsible for Shoddy Investigation? Police Focus on Gwangsan Station, Prosecution Targets National Office of Investigation

The prosecution and the police are conducting simultaneous, competitive investigations into the same case. The core of this case is who and why reduced Jang Yoon-ki's rape and murder charges to a regular murder charge carrying a lighter sentence.

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


The allegations of a shoddy police investigation in the Jang Yoon-ki case center on two main issues.

These are the destruction or omission of evidence during the initial investigation, and the decision to investigate a previous stalking and sex crime against a Vietnamese woman separately from the murder case.

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

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

Looking at Gwangsan Police Station first, the former investigation team leader, who was arrested on charges of destroying evidence, stated, "There was no intention to go easy on Jang Yoon-ki," while the former chief of Gwangsan Police Station maintained, "I do not know Jang Yoon-ki's father, who is a serving police officer," denying any preferential treatment.

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

Moving up a level from Gwangsan Police Station.

The Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency maintains that it "acted under the direction of the National Office of Investigation," while former National Office of Investigation Chief Park Sung-ju drew a line, stating that he "instructed them to handle it according to the manuals."

While accounts differ depending on each individual's position and circumstances, the viewpoints of the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office and the Special Investigation Team of the National Police Agency's National Office of Investigation—which are simultaneously investigating the same matter—also appear quite distinct.

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

Amid public criticism following the Namyangju stalking murder case, investigators suspect that a shoddy investigation may have been deliberately conducted to evade blame, reprimand, and disciplinary action over the police's failure to properly respond to the preceding stalking and sex crimes, which ultimately led to the murder.

On the other hand, the prosecution believes that the National Office of Investigation, which sits at the pinnacle of the case command structure, caused the failures by directing the two cases to be investigated separately.

Although their targets seem different, both sides are still engaging in a competitive investigation at this stage.

However, with the former head of the National Office of Investigation even being mentioned as a target of the investigation, the police special investigation team faces unavoidable controversy over a self-investigation.

(Video Editing: Won Hyung-hee, Design: Kim Han-gil)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.