Prosecutors have obtained a recording from July 7, in which Kim, a sergeant from the Jeonnam-Gwangju Gwangsan Police Station investigation team handling the “Jeonnam-Gwangju High School Girl Murder Case,” called Jang Yoon-gi’s (23) father (55) and said, “Everyone is keeping quiet about (Jang Yoon-gi) being a police family. They told me to stay silent.” It was confirmed that Kim, a mid-level officer (inspector) at a local police station in Jeonnam-Gwangju, had worked with Jang’s father. Kim was found to have called Jang’s father multiple times a day after the murder, addressing him as “senior.” Immediately after Jang’s murder, an anonymous post on the National Police Agency’s community allegedly claimed, “Jang Yoon-gi’s father is a current police officer in the Gwangju area.”
The Gwangju District Prosecutors’ Office dedicated investigation team (led by Chief Prosecutor Kim Bong-jin) reportedly secured this evidence by raiding Kim, investigation team leader Park (inspector), and the Gwangsan Police Station on the same day. Prosecutors are examining whether higher-ups in the police force were involved in concealing evidence while hiding Jang’s father’s status as an active-duty officer. On July 6, the police special investigation team urgently arrested Park and applied for a bench warrant against him on charges including evidence destruction. The National Police Agency placed six individuals, including the chief of the Gwangsan Police Station and the head of the criminal investigation division, on standby orders.
Park is accused of sharing investigation details with Jang’s father through dozens of calls and hiding evidence such as cable ties. These allegations of internal police collusion are gradually being substantiated through the prosecution’s supplementary investigations. Prosecutors found that the initial police decision to charge Jang with simple murder was influenced by collusion among Gwangju-area officers. Through supplementary investigations, prosecutors concluded that Jang committed premeditated murder for rape and indicted him on charges of “rape and murder,” which carries a mandatory death sentence or life imprisonment, unlike simple murder, which allows for a fixed-term prison sentence.
From ‘Random Murder’ to ‘Rape Murder’
Police initially investigated the Jeonnam-Gwangju high school girl murder case, which occurred on May 5, and charged Jang with simple murder, sending the case to prosecutors after nine days. They accepted Jang’s claim that he “killed the victim impulsively.”
However, prosecutors discovered adult items, including a real doll with damage to the chest area, in footage filmed during the police search of Jang’s rented room. This supported the possibility of sexual motives. Through additional searches, prosecutors confirmed that Jang’s father had disposed of the real doll and secured a memory card from Jang’s vehicle black box containing recordings of conversations about “sexual crimes” and “kidnapping.” Ultimately, prosecutors indicted Jang for rape and murder rather than simple murder.
The National Police Agency later launched a belated investigation into collusion between the investigation team and Jang’s father. Police identified circumstances where Park, the former investigation team leader, informed Jang’s father—an active-duty officer in Gwangju—about the investigation status, including whether to apply for a bench warrant, and concealed evidence like cable ties found during the seizure of Jang’s SUV. In response, a source close to Park told this newspaper, “There is no reason to protect Jang’s father, whom I have never met, and I did not discard any cable ties.”
Busan Roundhouse Kick and Late Kim Chang-min Cases Also Overturned
Although cases where the prosecution’s supplementary investigations overturn initial police findings are increasing, the ruling party continues to push for the “complete abolition of prosecutorial investigation rights.” Lawyer Jeong Ji-ung, a former advisor to the Prosecutorial Reform Promotion Team, recently warned on Facebook, “If the prosecution’s right to supplementary investigations disappears, a more terrifying hell will come like a tsunami. People will only realize the pain after becoming crime victims.”
In the 2022 “Busan Roundhouse Kick” case, where a man attacked a woman in her 20s, police charged the perpetrator A with causing serious injury, but prosecutors indicted him for attempted murder after supplementary investigations. During the trial, DNA evidence was found on the victim’s clothes, leading to a revised indictment for rape and attempted murder. A was sentenced to 20 years in prison by the Supreme Court in September 2023. The 2019 “Gapyeong Gorge Murder Case,” initially closed as a simple death, was re-investigated by prosecutors, who applied murder charges. The murderer, Lee Eun-hae, received a life sentence in 2023.
“Abolishing the Prosecution’s Right to Supplementary Investigations Would Normalize Case Concealment”
Legal circles warn that if prosecutors lose their right to supplementary investigations in October, the truth of cases may be buried. Prosecutor Kim Ho-jung, who specializes in sexual violence cases, recently wrote on an internal network, “Sexual crime cases require prosecutors to compare and analyze witness statements to assess credibility, but police do not understand the legal issues that arise in court or how victim statements may falter.”
The Lawyers for a Democratic Society (Minbyun) revealed that 67.0% of 403 members supported maintaining (including partial retention) the prosecution’s right to supplementary investigations in an online survey. A former senior prosecutor stated, “If even the prosecution’s right to supplementary investigations disappears, punishment for perpetrators will weaken, and victims will suffer more.”
On the same day, posts on the police section of the anonymous workplace community “Blind” read, “Looking at the Jeonnam-Gwangju case, prosecutors should have all investigative command rights,” and “The prosecution’s right to supplementary investigations must be maintained.”
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