"Pretended It Was Accidental... Jang Yoonki 'Caught Red-Handed' by Acquaintance's Conversation Transcript"

Victim’s Parents and Eyewitness Student to Testify as Witnesses

Witness Examinations of Former Classmates and Social Service Colleagues Canceled

Jang Yoonki (23), known as the “Gwangju high school student murderer,” has admitted as trial evidence a “conversation record with an acquaintance” that supports the circumstances of his kidnapping plan.

Jang Yoonki, who was detained on charges including 'rape and murder' under the Special Act on the Punishment of Sexual Violence Crimes. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

According to Yonhap News Agency on the 26th, the 13th Criminal Division of the Gwangju District Court (Presiding Judge Lee Jungho) will hold the third trial for Jang Yoonki, who is detained on charges including rape and murder under the Special Act on the Punishment of Sexual Violence Crimes, on the 27th at 10 a.m. At this trial, the parents of Lee Chaewon (16), the girl killed by Jang, as well as Go Mo, a 17-year-old male who was severely injured while trying to help Lee and was attacked by Jang’s weapon, will appear as witnesses.

The initial plan to question Jang’s high school classmates and colleagues from his time as a public service worker as witnesses has been withdrawn. This is because Jang Yoonki accepted the conversation record, an indirect piece of evidence for the kidnapping plan, as admissible evidence. Previously, it was expected that classmates would be asked whether Jang had made comments to the effect of “wanting to kidnap a teenage girl by car to commit a sex crime.”

If witness questioning and other procedures are completed at the trial on the 27th, the fourth hearing is expected to proceed with the examination of defendant Jang Yoonki.

Jang Yoonki was indicted and detained on charges of rape and murder and attempted murder for killing Lee with the intent of committing a sexual offense at around 12:10 a.m. on May 5 in a secluded pedestrian path in Wolgye-dong, Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju, Jeollanam-do, and wielding a weapon at a male student who ran to help after hearing the victim’s screams. While Jang had consistently claimed he “did not know the victim was female” and insisted it was an impulsive murder, at the second hearing on the 13th, he admitted the murder was sexually motivated. The indictment also includes charges that, two days before the murder of the high school student, he raped a Vietnamese woman (26), who was his part-time colleague, and secretly filmed the body of a teenage girl during his time as a public service worker, among other sex crimes.

Meanwhile, it has come to light that Jang Yoonki’s father and uncle are currently serving as police officers, raising suspicions of so-called “favorable investigation” or evidence tampering during the legal process. This was fueled by indications that during the investigation by the Gwangsan Police Station’s investigation team, key evidence such as a sex doll and cable ties—crucial to proving the murder was sexually motivated—were omitted or destroyed, and that investigation information was leaked to Inspector Jang, Jang Yoonki’s father.

A, the chief detective leading the investigation team for the Jang Yoonki case at Gwangsan Police Station, has worked at the station for 14 years, and Inspector Jang, Jang Yoonki’s father, has also served at Gwangsan Station for over 10 years, displaying a typical “local police” pattern. While local police are said to be beneficial for their familiarity with the region and the ability to provide “close-knit security,” in cases like Jang Yoonki’s, such entrenched relationships have been cited as factors undermining public trust in the police due to potential collusion.

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