The former head of the detective division at Gwangju Gwangsan Police Station, who was identified as responsible for the inadequate investigation into the "Jang Yoon-gi case," has alleged that there were directives from the National Office of Investigation (NOI) to separate Jang's sexual assault crimes from the murder case.

The pre-arrest interrogation for the former detective division head, identified as A, was held at the Gwangju District Court this morning.

After the hearing, which lasted about an hour and a half, A's legal representative told reporters at the scene that they had "provided sufficient explanation."

The representative further explained, "There was a directive from the NOI to separate the sexual assault crimes and the murder case of Jang Yoon-gi, which are currently at issue. We believed that consolidating the cases would be helpful in investigating whether the murder was committed for the purpose of sexual assault, and we formally proposed this in reports three times between May 6, the day after the incident, and the following five days, but it was not accepted."

When asked by a reporter whether the NOI had effectively directed the investigation from the beginning to the end of the case, the representative replied, "That is why he feels very unfairly treated."

The decision on whether to issue the arrest warrant is expected to be made late tonight.

A was booked on charges of providing inadequate investigative leadership while serving as the head of the detective division at Gwangju Gwangsan Police Station during the time of the incident last May, when Jang Yoon-gi murdered a high school sophomore.

At the time, the police referred Jang to the prosecution on charges of "simple murder," which has a minimum sentence of 5 years in prison, instead of "murder for the purpose of rape," which could have resulted in a sentence of at least life imprisonment.

Many frontline police officers who were involved in the investigation of the Jang Yoon-gi case have testified that most of the criminal charges currently faced by Superintendent A were the result of directives from the National Office of Investigation.

The NOI's special investigation team and the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office, which are each investigating the allegations of investigative misconduct in the Jang Yoon-gi case, conducted simultaneous raids on relevant departments at the NOI this morning.

Reported by Kim Jiuk | Video by Ryu Jisoo | Graphics by Lee Sumin | Produced by SBS Digital News