Police Book Gwangju Gwangsan Police Chief and Head of Detectives as Suspects in Jang Yunki Case

Charged with Abuse of Authority and Interference with Rights
Additional Charges for Violent Crimes Team Leader

The Special Investigation Team of the National Police Agency’s National Office of Investigation (hereinafter referred to as the Special Investigation Team), which is investigating the initial mishandling of the "Gwangju high school girl murder case" involving Jang Yunki (age 23) as well as allegations of collusion within the police, has now named the commanding officers involved in overseeing the original investigation as criminal suspects.

According to the Special Investigation Team for Fact-Finding on the Murder Case at Gwangju Gwangsan Police Station on the 14th, A, who was the chief superintendent of Gwangsan Police Station at the time, and B, who was then the chief of detectives, have both been booked on suspicion of abuse of authority and interference with the exercise of rights. In the course of summoning these individuals as witnesses, the investigation team uncovered specific evidence that they tried to unlawfully intervene and exercise influence in the overall decision-making regarding the case. As a result, their status was changed from witnesses to suspects.

On the morning of the 11th, the Special Investigation Team of the National Police Agency conducted a search and seizure at the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency. Photo by Yonhap News

The police have also added the same charge—abuse of authority and interference with the exercise of rights—against C, who was head of the violent crimes team at the time and is already in custody on charges including evidence tampering.

The Special Investigation Team is thoroughly examining what kind of investigative orders these leaders gave throughout the stages of Jang Yunki's apprehension, detention, and handover to the prosecution. The key points of the investigation include: ▲ why the "cable tie," likely used for the abduction of the high school girl, was discovered inside the suspect's vehicle but omitted from the list of confiscated items; ▲ Why a "damaged sex doll," found at Jang Yunki's residence, was not confiscated but instead returned to his father, a serving police officer, either by tacit approval or neglect from the officers in charge.

One key issue is whether directive pressure or illegal coordination from the command was involved in dismissing internal recommendations within the team to prosecute Jang Yunki for "rape-murder"—a more serious charge based on his history of stalking and sexual assault—instead of proceeding with the comparatively lesser charge of ordinary "murder," which is what was ultimately forwarded to prosecutors.

In reality, after taking over the case and conducting supplementary investigation, prosecutors indicted Jang Yunki on charges of "rape-murder," and during the second trial held on the previous day, the 13th, Jang Yunki admitted to all such charges. This has heightened suspicions surrounding the judgment criteria and the investigative direction applied by the police command at the time, who reportedly scaled down the charges based only on Jang Yunki’s testimony that he committed an “impulsive murder” because he intended to "take someone with him before he committed suicide."

Separately, the prosecution’s investigation focusing on the police command is also proceeding rapidly. On July 10, prosecutors carried out a compulsory search of Gwangsan Police Station, officially booking both Chief Superintendent A and Chief of Detectives B on suspicion of aiding and abetting the destruction of evidence and directly summoning B for questioning the next day.

The Special Investigation Team plans to further question the detained team leader C and then hand the case over to the prosecution as early as July 15th, or, at the latest, on the 16th. Once the team leader and related investigation materials have been transferred to prosecutors, it is expected that, based on police-prosecution cooperation, the analysis of records such as phone calls between senior police officers and Jang Yunki’s father (an active police officer himself) will help reveal any internal efforts to cover up the case.

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