Acting Korean National Police Agency Commissioner Yoo Jae-seong arrives at Incheon International Airport Terminal 2 on Friday after cutting short a trip to the United States, where he had attended the UN Chiefs of Police Summit. He returned early as allegations grew that investigators in the Jang Yun-gi case had suppressed the probe. [Yonhap]
Acting Korean National Police Agency Commissioner Yoo Jae-seong arrives at Incheon International Airport Terminal 2 on Friday after cutting short a trip to the United States, where he had attended the UN Chiefs of Police Summit. He returned early as allegations grew that investigators in the Jang Yun-gi case had suppressed the probe. [Yonhap]

Probe scope widens, searches broaden as police vow 'swift fact-finding'

Oh Dong-wook named corps chief; 14 additional officers, forensic staff added

Gwangju police chief's office among sites searched Saturday morning

Police investigating allegations of shoddy investigation and collusion in the Jang Yun-gi case have upgraded their special investigation team to a full special investigation corps, elevating the probe's organizational standing as forced searches reached the commanding ranks.

The Korean National Police Agency's National Investigation Headquarters announced Saturday afternoon that it had expanded the unit. The number of subjects under investigation had grown and searches had broadened significantly, the agency said, requiring a stronger structure to ensure swift fact-finding.

Senior Superintendent General Oh Dong-wook, head of investigations at the Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency, will lead the corps as its director. Hong Jang-deuk, a superintendent who had headed the previous special team, moves to deputy director. The investigative staff has grown from 27 to 41, with 14 additional personnel drawn from the agency's secondary-harm investigation team and its Digital Forensic Center. A superintendent-level public affairs officer has also been designated. The corps said it would "investigate thoroughly so that not a single doubt remains."

The upgrade came immediately after forced searches carried out Saturday morning. Police searched the office of the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency chief and the office of the Gwangju Gwangsan Police Station chief — both part of the command structure that oversaw the original Jang Yun-gi investigation — widening the net beyond frontline investigators to the chain of command. Investigators are seeking to determine whether leniency was shown or investigative information was leaked during the original probe.

Allegations are surfacing simultaneously from multiple directions. Jang's father, an active-duty police officer, is under suspicion of destroying evidence after clearing out his son's studio apartment. During a second round of questioning Saturday, he denied the charges, saying he had simply cleared the unit because his son was headed to prison. Reports have also emerged that the father received the apartment's door code from police, fueling suspicions that investigative information was leaked to him.

The fallout is spreading to senior police leadership and the political arena. Acting Commissioner Yoo cut short his overseas schedule and returned home, convening a nationwide video conference of police commanders and expressing his apologies to the victim's family.

The Democratic Party of Korea called Saturday for a full reinvestigation, saying the original handling amounted to "not a shoddy investigation but complicity disguised as one." The People Power Party countered that the case underscores the need to check the police's monopoly on investigations, framing it within the broader debate over realigning prosecutorial and police investigative authority.


hong@heraldcorp.com