Jang Yunki Special Investigation Unit Conducts Search and Seizure at National Office of Investigation: "Checking Command Structure"

"Order to Separate Investigations of Murder and Sex Crime Cases"

The police, currently investigating inadequate and concealed handling of the Jang Yun-ki case—where a high school girl who was a complete stranger to the perpetrator was murdered—have initiated a compulsory investigation into the National Office of Investigation of the Korean National Police Agency to check the initial reporting and command system of the incident.

The Special Investigation Unit of the Korean National Police Agency announced that, as of 7:30 a.m. on the 21st, it is executing a search and seizure warrant at the office of the Violent Crimes Investigation Division under the National Office of Investigation. This search and seizure was conducted after testimony emerged from an investigator at the time, stating that the Office had instructed a separate investigation of Jang Yun-ki’s murder charge and his previous sex crime cases.

It was also reportedly considered to merge the rape case filed with another regional police agency into the investigation. However, testimony has surfaced that, following the directive of the Office, the case was separately assigned to the Women and Youth Affairs Division.

The Special Investigation Unit suspects that, during the investigation of the Jang Yun-ki case, there was intentional mishandling, such as failing to secure key evidence and disregarding crucial circumstances, and is now probing whether any members of the then investigative command unit were involved.

Meanwhile, Jang Yun-ki was indicted and detained last May on charges of murdering Lee Chae-won, a second-year high school student, in Gwangju, South Jeolla Province (on charges of rape and murder under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes, among others). During the review process by the Police Personal Information Disclosure Review Committee, Jang submitted a handwritten statement expressing, "Even if my personal information is made public, I hope my family will not be harmed."

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