SBS has confirmed that the police special investigation team looking into allegations of misconduct in the Jang Yoon-gi case has uncovered evidence suggesting that the Gwangju Gwangsan Police Station chief ordered subordinates to ensure that Jang's crimes were not linked to relationship-based offenses during the initial investigation.

The special investigation team suspects that the Gwangsan Police leadership applied a general murder charge to Jang instead of rape-murder to avoid criticism, as the police were already facing internal disciplinary actions following a series of relationship-based crimes, including the stalking-murder case in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, and subsequent controversies over poor police responses.

The special investigation team recently secured testimony indicating that the decision to charge Jang with general murder was made because "Police Superintendent Kim, the chief of Gwangsan Police Station, intended to prevent the circumstances of Jang's prior relationship-based crimes from being highlighted."

According to the testimony, upon receiving a report that Jang had not only stalked and attempted sexual crimes against a foreign woman but also murdered a high school girl, Superintendent Kim mentioned the controversy over the poor police response to the stalking case in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, and allegedly said, "We must be careful. We should ensure that talk of relationship-based crimes does not come up as much as possible."

In March, a case in which a woman in her 20s, who was under police protection, was murdered after being stalked in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, sparked public outrage.

Following an order from President Lee Jae-myung, the police launched an inspection, disciplined over 10 related personnel including the police station chief in early April, and made efforts to manage the situation, such as conducting a full-scale review of relationship-based crimes.

However, the special investigation team suspects that when the Jang Yoon-gi case occurred less than a month later, Superintendent Kim, who was in charge of the investigation, attempted to downplay the case out of fear that the repercussions would grow.

The special investigation team believes that Superintendent Kim's order was relayed through the head of the criminal investigation division, Superintendent Park, to the investigation team leader, Inspector A, and that it played a decisive role in silencing internal opinions from the investigation team that "Jang should be charged with rape-murder."

Based on these findings, the special investigation team has booked Superintendent Kim, Superintendent Park, and Inspector A on charges of abuse of power and is reported to have secured some physical evidence.

Today, the special investigation team referred Inspector A, the investigation team leader, to the prosecution under arrest on charges including limiting the scope of Jang's charges to murder and excluding details related to sexually motivated crimes from the investigation report. The team is also questioning Superintendent Park, the head of the criminal investigation division, as a suspect.

With expectations growing that the summoning of Superintendent Kim for questioning is inevitable, the special investigation team is expanding its investigation to determine if there was any involvement from higher-ranking officials.