"The Real Perjurer is the Police"... Who Was Driving That Day?

Who is the one who did not tell the truth?

On the broadcast of SBS's "Unanswered Questions" aired yesterday (July 25), the show tracked the truth behind a traffic accident that altered the destinies of three people.

Around 3:30 PM on September 28, 2003, a traffic accident occurred at a rural three-way intersection in Yeongbuk-myeon, Pocheon.

The vehicle making a left turn crashed straight into a utility pole located at the street corner, resulting in the driver's death the following day and leaving the passenger in the front passenger seat severely injured and in a coma.


Four months later, Lee Soo-jae, the passenger who dramatically regained consciousness, suffered permanent disabilities including a fractured skull and barely managed to be discharged a year after the accident.

Then one day, the police came looking for him and arrested him, claiming that he was the driver of the accident vehicle.

Emergency responders and a private ambulance driver who had been dispatched to the scene at the time testified that a person named Choi, wearing dark clothes, was in the passenger seat, while Lee Soo-jae, wearing bright clothes, was in the driver's seat.

In addition, a police officer from the traffic investigation unit claimed that upon arriving at the scene, he witnessed the passenger in the front seat before rescue operations took place and checked his wallet, confirming Choi's name on his identification card.


Ultimately, Lee Soo-jae was sent to the prosecution and found guilty. However, Lee was not the only one who faced punishment. Jeon Young-do and Sung Ki-soo, who claimed they witnessed the traffic accident at the time, had testified that the passenger in the accident was Lee Soo-jae. They were subsequently arrested and even served prison time on perjury charges for what was deemed false testimony.

In response, both Lee Soo-jae and the two individuals punished for perjury appealed for a retrial, expressing their grievances. Notably, the son of Jeon Young-do, who passed away before the retrial was accepted, drew attention by raising his voice to say, "The real perjurer is the police."

Meanwhile, the 119 emergency response log from the time listed the front passenger as "Lee Soo-jae" rather than "Choi," and the medical records of the two individuals transported to the same hospital at a 5-minute interval left lingering suspicions. Amid conflicting statements, who on earth is telling the truth?


After making inquiries everywhere, the production team met with the private ambulance driver from that time. He shuddered in disgust when the incident was brought up. He stated that the person he carried was Lee Soo-jae and mentioned that the person had a wart on his face.

However, his past statement only remembered the clothing. In particular, the driver only remembered the clothes of the person who was transported later, rather than the person he himself had transported.

Furthermore, the police officer from the traffic investigation unit claimed that only the passenger remained at the time and that he pulled out a wallet to check the ID, stating that the passenger's body was wedged into the vehicle. However, this account differed from the records of the time and what witnesses saw. Neither the passenger nor the driver had their bodies wedged into the vehicle, and there was no record of the vehicle doors being forcibly opened.

Consequently, the production team sought to interview Park, the police officer from the traffic investigation unit, but he ultimately refused to respond.


That was not the only strange thing. Medical records from the time stated that the person brought in a coma state was Choi, but the coma record written by the nurse and the description of a lethargic state written by the doctor contradicted each other. Regarding this, an expert stated, "There is almost no possibility of recovering from a coma to a lethargic state."

The production team asked multiple experts to review the medical records of the two individuals, and the experts analyzed that there was a high possibility the medical records had been swapped.

In addition, the production team predicted the injuries of the driver and passenger through a simulation. As a result, it was predicted that Lee Soo-jae's injuries were likely those of a passenger, while the deceased Choi's injuries were likely those of a driver.

Then why did police officer Park make such testimony? An expert pointed out, "The Pocheon area has a high number of traffic accidents relative to its population. However, the workforce is drastically lacking," noting that structural limitations led to poor initial accident response, adding, "It wasn't just a shoddy investigation; they simply didn't conduct a proper investigation."

Although Park claimed he verified Choi's identity at the time, this was not recorded anywhere in the investigative files, and investigations into witnesses at the time were not properly conducted either.


Another expert pointed out regarding the witnesses charged with perjury, "Back then, if the prosecution felt a trial was getting shaky, there was a commonly used investigative tactic where they would immediately summon people on perjury charges, intimidate them, and force them to recant." The prosecutor in charge at the time refused to answer, stating that he could not remember.

The three people hope that the truth will be brought to light through the request for a retrial. However, the court recently dismissed Lee Soo-jae's request for a retrial. Shifting the responsibility of failing to verify the swapped medical records onto Lee, the court ruled that the grounds for retrial he claimed did not constitute a valid reason for a retrial. In response, Lee immediately appealed.

In addition, it was revealed that the retrial requests by the witnesses are currently under review, drawing keen interest as to what conclusion the court will reach.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.