[Anchor]

The arrest warrant hearing for the former chief of the detective division at Gwangsan Police Station, who has been identified as a key figure in the allegations of covering up the Jang Yoon-gi case, is currently underway at the Gwangju District Court. We connect to our reporter at the court.

Reporter Jeong Jiyeon, are there any results yet?

[Reporter]

The arrest warrant hearing for the former detective chief of the Gwangju Gwangsan Police Station, Superintendent Park, has been ongoing for over nine hours.

Earlier, while arriving at the court, Superintendent Park said, "I apologize to the victims and the bereaved families," but claimed there were no improper orders.

[Superintendent Park / Former Detective Chief of Gwangju Gwangsan Police Station: There were no improper orders from superiors during the case handling process, and I did not issue any such orders either.]

Superintendent Park is accused of directing a poor investigation, such as referring Jang Yoon-gi to the prosecution on charges of "simple murder," which carries a minimum sentence of five years in prison, instead of "murder for the purpose of rape," which carries only life imprisonment or the death penalty if convicted.

The police special investigation team applied for an arrest warrant on charges of abuse of power and dereliction of duty, believing that Superintendent Park exerted influence between the already arrested investigation team leader and the Gwangsan Police Station chief during the investigation into Jang Yoon-gi.

If Superintendent Park is taken into custody, the investigation into the police leadership at the time, including the Gwangsan Police Station chief, is expected to gain momentum.

A decision on whether to arrest Superintendent Park is expected as early as tonight.

[Anchor]

Superintendent Park's side also made a revelation, saying, "The National Office of Investigation directed it," right?

[Reporter]

After the arrest warrant hearing, the attorney for Superintendent Park claimed, "There were guidelines from the National Office of Investigation to separate Jang Yoon-gi's sexual assault crime from the murder case."

[The Attorney / Legal Representative for Superintendent Park: Guidelines were issued by the National Office of Investigation on three occasions to not merge the cases, so we only handled the general case.]

In response, an official from the Violent Crimes Investigation Division of the National Office of Investigation explained to the press corps that the intention was for the detective division and the women and youth division within the same Gwangsan Police Station to cooperate.

Furthermore, regarding the claim that the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency had requested a review of applying the charge of murder for the purpose of rape first, the official drew a line, stating, "No, that did not happen."

(Video reporting: Joo Beom, Video editing: Ahn Yeojin)