As circumstances have emerged suggesting that the father of incumbent police officer Jang Yoon-gi destroyed evidence of his son's crime, the police have launched a nationwide full-scale investigation into cases where police officers' family members are involved as parties to an investigation.

It has been determined that the investigation will cover not only cases where a police officer is currently working at the police station handling their family member's case, but also cases where the officer has worked at that station within the last three years.

Acting Commissioner General of the Korean National Police Agency Yoo Jae-sung held a video conference presided over by the Commissioner General on the morning of July 10 and ordered measures to enhance the credibility of police investigations, which include these directives.

It is understood that Acting Commissioner General Yoo ordered a review of all ongoing cases, stating, "Fully identify all cases where the investigating officer and the party involved in the case are family members."

The scope of the review includes cases currently under investigation at police stations nationwide where the parties involved—such as suspects, persons under investigation, the accused, victims, as well as complainants, accusers, petitioners, and those filing appeals—are family members, including spouses or direct lineal ascendants or descendants, of police officers working at the station handling the case.

The police also plan to include cases in the pre-investigation (internal inquiry) stage.

However, as it is realistically difficult to identify every single case, it is reported that the full-scale investigation will focus on cases where the investigative chain of command, including team leaders, division heads, and police station chiefs, is aware of such relationships.

The police have mandated that once such cases are identified, they must be immediately reported to higher authorities such as the municipal or provincial police agencies. Each police station chief is then required to thoroughly review the cases for any procedural violations or issues regarding the appropriateness of the investigation before reporting them to higher-level institutions.

The National Police Agency plans to impose strict disciplinary actions, including severe penalties and personnel disadvantages, if any misconduct such as the leakage or unauthorized disclosure of investigative information is uncovered.

Reported by Kim Taewon | Video by Kim Hye-ju | Graphics by Lee Soo-min | Produced by SBS Digital News