Prosecutors conduct 3rd raid of Gwangju police agency in evidence-tampering probe
Investigators searched the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency again as they probe alleged evidence destruction and leaks in a high school student's murder case.
Prosecution staff wait outside the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency on July 15, after the Prosecutors searched the police agency and other sites.YONHAP
Prosecutors conducted a raid of the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency on Wednesday, its third search of the agency in its investigation into whether the police destroyed evidence in the murder of a Gwangju high school student.
"We are conducting searches of the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency and other sites in connection with allegations that the police leaked official secrets and destroyed evidence in the case," the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office said in a notice to reporters Wednesday.
The latest search followed raids that occurred on July 7 and Friday.
Prosecutors are said to be gathering records on how the case's chain of command reached its decisions, among them the violent-crime section chief, the criminal investigation division head, the investigation department head and the agency chief. The raid was described as fact-finding rather than a compulsory search targeting a specific suspect.
Prosecutors had already booked two Gwangju Gwangsan Police Station commanders, its chief and the head of its criminal investigation division, on suspicion of aiding the destruction of evidence, after searching the station on Friday. They questioned the criminal investigation chief on Monday and had been waiting to take custody of the case's lead investigator from the police.
That handover came on Wednesday. The police's own special investigation team referred the lead investigator, who headed the Gwangsan Police Station's violent-crime team, to prosecutors in custody, on charges of abuse of authority and destroying evidence.
Jang Yun-gi, who is accused of killing a high school student whom he did not know in Gwangju, is transferred to prosecutors from the Gwangju Seobu Police Precinct on May 14.NEWS1
The lead investigator is accused of failing to seize cable ties, a key piece of physical evidence, in the May 5 killing and of ordering officers to delete footage they had shot to document evidence. The investigator had been arrested on an emergency basis and held under a warrant. The special team also booked the same two Gwangsan Police Station commanders on abuse-of-authority charges.
The investigation stems from the fatal stabbing of a high school student in Gwangju's Gwangsan District on May 5. Jang Yun-gi, a stranger to the victim, was indicted and detained on May 14 over the killing. Allegations that evidence had been tampered with and that investigators steered the case toward a lesser murder charge later widened the police and prosecution inquiries.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
