National Police Agency Dismisses Violent Crimes Team Leader in 'Jang Yoongi Case'... Police Chief Suspended

Arrest Warrant Requested for Violent Crimes Team Leader Accused of Destroying Evidence

The police, who have launched an investigation into allegations of evidence destruction during the investigation of Jang Yoongi (23)—who murdered a high school girl he did not know—have suspended those involved in the investigation, including their supervisors, from their duties and placed them on standby.

On July 7, the National Police Agency announced that, in order to clarify various suspicions raised during the investigation, it had dismissed the head of the violent crimes team, who had been urgently arrested, from his position, and had taken personnel measures to suspend other related parties and the chief of the Gwangju Gwangsan Police Station from their duties. At that time, the police chief, the head of the criminal affairs division, and four investigators from the violent crimes team were all placed on standby.

Jang Yoonki (23), who murdered a high school girl he did not know in May, is being transferred from Gwangju Western Police Station to the prosecution. Photo by Yonhap News

The special investigation team, reorganized by dispatching staff from the National Investigation Headquarters, has applied for an arrest warrant for Inspector A, who was the head of the violent crimes team at the time of the incident, on charges of evidence destruction. Inspector A is suspected of destroying evidence such as cable ties during the search and seizure of Jang Yoongi's vehicle immediately after the incident occurred in May.

Additionally, on the same day, the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office dispatched investigators to the Gwangsan Police Station and began a compulsory investigation. Several individuals, including members of the investigation team, have been booked without detention on charges such as official secrets leakage, evidence destruction, and abetting evidence destruction. The prosecution conducted extensive search and seizure operations, not only in the office of the police chief who was responsible for overseeing the investigation, but also in the office of the women and youth division, which had previously investigated Jang Yoongi for a sex crime committed against a part-time coworker before he murdered the high school girl.

Previously, in May, Jang Yoongi fatally stabbed a female high school student with a weapon on a main street in Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju.

Jang's father, Inspector Jang—who is also an active police officer—destroyed key evidence such as a sex doll and a mobile phone in his son's rented room, but was not charged due to a special exemption in the Criminal Act stating that family members cannot be punished. Three days after the incident, Inspector Jang cleaned out his son's room, dismantling and disposing of the sex doll in several pieces. After Jang Yoongi's identity was made public and the residence changed, he burned his son's belongings, including the mobile phone.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.