Police Reapply for Arrest Warrant for Former Gwangsan Station Criminal Division Chief in 'Jang Yoon-gi Case'

Special Investigation Team Bolsters Case
with Additional Suspect Testimonies and Physical Evidence

The police investigating allegations of external pressure, reduction, and cover-up in the case of Jang Yoon-gi (24), known as the 'Gwangju high school girl murder suspect,' have reapplied for an arrest warrant for the former chief of the Criminal Division at the relevant police station just one week after the court dismissed the previous warrant request.

According to the Special Investigation Unit for Truth-Finding on the Jang Yoon-gi Case under the National Investigation Headquarters of the Korean National Police Agency on July 28, the special team reapplied that morning for a pre-arrest warrant against Lieutenant A, who was the chief of the Criminal Division at the time at Gwangsan Police Station in Gwangju, on charges of abuse of authority and dereliction of duty.

On the 21st, A, a former criminal division chief superintendent of the Gwangsan Police Station in Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City who is under investigation for instructing to separately investigate the murder and sex crime in the Jang Yoon-gi case, is seen leaving the Gwangju District Court after completing the pre-arrest suspect interrogation (warrant substantive review). Photo by Yonhap News.

Lieutenant A is accused of having general command over the investigation into the Jang Yoon-gi case in May and, even after identifying indications that there was a sexual crime motive, improperly intervening with the investigation team to refer the suspect to the prosecution under the lesser charge of 'simple murder,' which carries a minimum sentence of five years in prison, instead of the more severe charge of 'murder with rape,' which is punishable by at least life imprisonment. He is also alleged to have neglected the securing of key evidence such as 'cable ties' found on the front passenger seat of the crime vehicle—which constituted physical evidence of restraint—and to have inadequately overseen the initial investigation, including the deletion of forensic video footage from the crime scene.

Previously, on July 21, the court dismissed the pre-arrest suspect interrogation (warrant review) for Lieutenant A, explaining, "In light of the degree to which the evidence collected to date substantiates the suspicion of a crime, the possibility of dispute, and the course of the investigation, it is difficult to recognize the necessity or appropriateness of an arrest."

In response, the special investigation team continued by analyzing seized materials and conducting further questioning of those involved in the case. On July 27, just six days after the dismissal of the warrant, Lieutenant A was summoned again as a suspect and was intensively questioned regarding his initial leadership of the investigation. A representative of the special investigation team stated, "We determined that additional and supplementary witness statements, suspect statements, and physical evidence obtained through search and seizure justified another push for arrest."

During the initial warrant review, Lieutenant A's legal team denied any involvement, stating, "The National Investigation Headquarters declined to merge the sexual crime case, so we even pursued the establishment of a joint investigation team with the Women and Youth Division in order to continue investigating the motive. The reasons behind the consideration and the rejection of charges such as 'murder with rape' were included in an additional investigation report submitted to the prosecution."

Meanwhile, on this day, the special investigation unit also plans to summon Sergeant B, another member of the original investigation team, as a suspect to question him on suspicion of leaking official secrets. Sergeant B is accused of having communicated with Jang Yoon-gi's father, who is an active-duty police officer, on multiple occasions and of revealing internal information related to the investigation.

Previously, the special investigation team had detained and referred Captain C—the initial head of the investigation team—for trial, on charges of abuse of authority, concealment of evidence, and dereliction of duty, after he was found to have neglected to secure the cable ties and to have deleted video footage collected during forensic examination of the crime scene.

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