Jang Yoonki Investigation Team Leader Deliberately Omitted Evidence and Reports, Insisting "Do Not Pursue Sexual Crime Angle"

Special Unit Indicts Inspector Park, Head of Violent Crimes Team, on Evidence Destruction Charges
Cable Ties and Damaged Sex Doll Not Seized, Handed Over to Suspect’s Father Instead

The investigation has revealed that the police's "lenient investigation" and "cover-up allegations" raised during the probe into the "Gwangju high school girl murder" case involving Jang Yoonki (23) were carried out through the blatant disregard and abuse of command authority by the head of the violent crimes team who oversaw the case at the time. The true nature of criminal activities—protecting the suspect with official authority—has come to light, including the blocking of the seizure of the murder weapon despite direct contact, and the forcible alteration or omission of reports that could have revealed the sexual motive for the crime.

On the morning of the 15th, Oh Dongwook, head of the Special Investigation Division of the National Police Agency's Criminal Investigation Headquarters, announced the interim investigation results regarding allegations of evidence tampering and collusion surrounding the Jang Yoonki case at the Gwangju Police Agency press room. Photo by Yonhap News.

The Special Investigation Unit for Truth-Finding in the Jang Yoonki Case under the National Investigation Headquarters (hereafter “the Special Unit”) held a briefing for the interim investigation results at the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency on the morning of the 15th. They announced that Park, who was the head inspector of the violent crimes team in the Criminal Division of Gwangsan Police Station at the time, has been indicted and detained on charges including evidence destruction, dereliction of duty, and abuse of authority.

From the early stages of the incident, Inspector Park deliberately limited the investigation team to pursue the case as a simple spontaneous murder. Despite the fact that investigators within the team raised significant objections that there was a strong possibility of a rape and murder charge, Inspector Park forcibly restricted the scope of the investigation by insisting, "Do not pursue the sexual angle of this case."

Additionally, Inspector Park completely omitted from the investigation records the Jang Yoonki expert interview report received from the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency, which stated that "it is necessary to review the possibility of a sexual motive."

During CCTV footage analysis at the time of the crime, when a team member submitted a report stating that Jang Yoonki's SUV rear seat door being open clearly suggested an attempted premeditated abduction, Inspector Park immediately rejected the report and forced it to be rewritten with a manipulated conclusion stating "the circumstances are unclear." He also ordered the removal of all key phrases that could connect the incident to a sexual motive from both the investigation report analyzing the stalking charges committed against a part-time colleague two days before the murder and the criminal analysis report.

Inspector Park was also the individual behind the decision not to seize the critical evidence—the "cable tie" used for binding and the "damaged sex doll" from the suspect’s rented room—choosing instead to hand these items over to Jang Yoonki’s father, who was an active police officer.

On the day of the incident, Inspector Park personally handled a bundle of black cable ties, 40 centimeters in length, found in the front passenger seat during a vehicle inspection but instructed the team members, "Do not seize them." Later, when team members raised concerns about the cable ties, he suppressed even any discussion on the matter and, without securing key evidence, directed that the car keys and the studio apartment password be returned directly to the suspect’s father, thereby inducing the destruction of evidence.

As the scandal over the lenient investigation grew and higher authorities ordered a supplementary referral of the case on July 2, Inspector Park failed to comply. Reportedly, on the same day, during a vehicle search, he ordered a team member to immediately delete evidence—specifically, the forensic video footage in which the cable ties appeared—from both their cell phones and storage devices.

The detained Inspector Park asserted, "I did not consider the cable ties and sex doll to be essential evidence in the murder case." However, regarding his decision to artificially separate the stalking allegations from the murder to downplay the crime as mere murder in the indictment, he claimed, "There were directives from higher-ups."

The Special Unit also uncovered a key link responsible for leaking investigation information. Officer A, a member of the violent crimes team, was charged with the unauthorized disclosure of official secrets for relaying highly confidential investigative information in real time to Jang Yoonki's father outside the scope of standard police procedures, including notification of arrest warrant applications and search-and-seizure details. It was also confirmed that the two had worked together at the same local police station for about six months from 2024 to last year—a classic case of information trafficking through close police connections.

Accordingly, the Special Unit is speeding up the investigation into the police leadership, summoning the former chief of Gwangsan Police Station (senior superintendent) and the head of the Criminal Division (superintendent) as formal suspects on charges such as abuse of power. In addition, they are tracing financial accounts to investigate any monetary transactions or soliciting of favors involving Jang Yoonki’s father during the course of the investigative misconduct.

During the briefing, Odong Wook, head of the Special Investigation Unit (senior superintendent), bowed his head deeply and apologized: "The investigators assigned to uncover the truth ended up concealing key evidence of the crime, leaving an irreparable wound on the bereaved family and the public."

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