[Anchor]

The National Police Agency has decided to directly investigate the alleged collusion between the investigation team handling the Jang Yun-gi case and the suspect's father, who is a senior police officer in the same region. This move appears to be an effort to address concerns over whether an investigation team under the command of the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency could conduct a fair and impartial inquiry.

Reporter Son Gijun has the story.

[Reporter]

Initially, when the police announced the emergency arrest of the team leader in charge of the Jang Yun-gi case at the Gwangsan Police Station on the morning of July 6, they stated that a 22-member special investigation team led by the head of the investigation division at the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency would be formed to uncover the truth behind the suspicions surrounding the investigation of Jang Yun-gi, the perpetrator of the Gwangju high school student murder case.

They added that the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency would conduct a thorough investigation into the entire process, beyond just the allegations reported in the media, to ensure there are no lingering doubts.

However, at approximately 4:10 p.m. yesterday, the National Office of Investigation under the National Police Agency issued a revised statement.

They announced that they would expand the special investigation team originally formed at the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency into a special investigation team at the Gwangsan Police Station and take direct control of the probe.

The National Police Agency appointed its own director of investigation and human rights as the head of the special investigation team and announced the deployment of an additional team leader and six investigators from the headquarters' Major Crimes Investigation Division.

The agency repeatedly emphasized, "We will exclude the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency's command line to ensure an independent investigation, and only the final results will be reported to the Chief of the National Office of Investigation."

It appears the authorities determined that if the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency—which received reports on the Gwangsan Police Station's poor initial response and oversaw the case—were to lead the fact-finding mission, the results would inevitably face controversy.

In particular, the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency was also a subject of the internal inspection led by the National Police Agency.

[Interview: Oh Yoon-sung / Professor of Police Administration, Soonchunhyang University] : Since the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency itself is in a position where it bears responsibility for the supervision and management of the investigation into the Jang Yun-gi case, I believe it is a very necessary measure to have the investigation conducted by a higher-level authority.

The investigation personnel from the National Police Agency are scheduled to travel to Gwangju today to begin full-scale fact-finding operations.

There are concerns, however, that time is running short to complete follow-up procedures, such as requesting an arrest warrant, as the detention period for the emergency-arrested Inspector A expires tomorrow morning.

(Video Editing: So Ji-hye, Graphics: Kim Han-gil)