[Anchor]

Legal team reporter Kim Deok-hyeon is with us in the studio.

Q. What is the significance of the "March 27 Cheong Wa Dae Report Document"?

[Reporter Kim Deok-hyeon : This document contains the content reported by the National Police Agency to Cheong Wa Dae after President Lee Jae-myung strongly reprimanded the police for their poor handling of a stalking crime in Namyangju. It was a report conducted under a truly grave situation, and when the core contents mentioned in the reporting document were not implemented about a month later in the "Jang Yoon-gi case," police leadership must have felt immense pressure. The prosecutors suspect that the National Investigation Headquarters ordered "separated assignment" during the handling of the Jang Yoon-gi case to prevent the sexual crime from being exposed, out of concern that the initial response failures in the stalking case would become public.]

Q. The "post-incident callback," which was the final chance... What if it had been properly followed?

[Reporter Kim Deok-hyeon : Yes, that is correct. It is all the more regretful because looking back at the entire process of the Jang Yoon-gi case, it was the final opportunity to prevent the tragic death of the late Lee Chae-won. Jang Yoon-gi's murder was committed at 12:08 AM on May 5. A Vietnamese woman, who had reported stalking damage on the night of May 3, filed a complaint for sexual assault at a different police station the following day, May 4. If the Gwangsan Police Station had simply called the female victim back during that day on May 4, the day the complaint was filed, they could have easily identified the sexual assault fact and launched a full-scale pursuit. Had they done so, given that Jang Yoon-gi was wandering around his usual areas on the night of May 4, one cannot help but feel a sense of regret wondering if they could have arrested him or at least prevented the murder.]

Q. Is the prosecution's investigation heading toward the "police leadership"?

[Reporter Kim Deok-hyeon : The prosecutors are targeting the leadership of the National Investigation Headquarters as the higher-ups behind the abuse of authority. Officials at the Gwangsan Police Station merely followed and carried out the instructions for separated assignment, and it was the National Investigation Headquarters that led the concealment of the case. In particular, the prosecutors believe that the fact that the National Investigation Headquarters ordered the separated assignment has been objectively confirmed through messages and other evidence from National Investigation Headquarters officials. However, in order to apply charges of abuse of authority to the National Investigation Headquarters, it is necessary to clarify whether there was an "unfair purpose" behind the instructions, namely the "motive." The prosecutors view the contents we reported today (August 4) as evidence that raises suspicions of an unfair motive.]

(Video by Lee So-young | Design by Seo Hyun-jung)