〈Anchor〉

The police officer who falsely closed the missing persons cases of Jang Mi-ran and a man in his 60s who was found dead will undergo a warrant hearing this afternoon at the Jeju District Court. Although he was previously emergency arrested and later released due to procedural issues, his detention status could be decided as early as today.

Reporter Cho Min-ki has the details.

〈Reporter〉

Police Inspector A, who is accused of falsely closing missing persons cases under his charge, exits the police station detention center.

Bereaved family members, who arrived after hearing the news of his release, push Inspector A and strongly protest.

[Police Inspector A : ((The body) has been found, would you like to say a word to the bereaved family?) ....... (Aren't you sorry?) ....... (Aren't you even remorseful?) .......]

Two days ago, just one day after being emergency arrested, Inspector A applied to the court for a review of the legality of his arrest. Yesterday, the court sided with Inspector A, ruling that there were legal flaws in the emergency arrest procedure.

The Jeju District Court explained, "An emergency arrest must be made when there is no time to obtain an arrest warrant, but Inspector A's whereabouts were already known and he had expressed his intent to appear before investigative agencies, meaning this condition was not met."

This means the police had sufficient time to obtain an arrest warrant.

As Inspector A was released just two days after his arrest due to flawed investigative procedures, criticism poured in that the police failed to properly review even the basic requirements for an emergency arrest.

[Bereaved Family Member of the Missing Person : Still, I trusted the police. It is absurd. Is this really a police force for the people?]

The police applied for an arrest warrant for Inspector A, citing "concerns over the destruction of evidence and flight," and the prosecution immediately requested a warrant from the court.

The warrant substantive review will be held at the Jeju District Court. Regardless of whether his detention is approved, controversy surrounding the police investigation process regarding Inspector A is expected to continue.

(Photo courtesy of JIBS, Oh Il-ryung | Video by So Ji-hye | Graphics by Lee Jong-jung)