A current police officer who is the father of Jang Yun-gi (23), who killed an unrelated teenage high school girl in downtown Gwangju, will face an internal audit for discarding items related to his son's case.
The Korean National Police Agency said on the 2nd that it "decided to verify the facts through an audit on whether there were shortcomings in the police investigation process related to the Jang Yun-gi case and on allegations that Jang's father destroyed evidence."
At first, the Gwangju Provincial Police Agency launched an audit into Inspector Jang, an officer under its jurisdiction. But given the seriousness of the matter, it appears the Korean National Police Agency took over the audit directly.
The National Office of Investigation (NOI) of the Korean National Police Agency will examine whether the police investigation related to the Jang Yun-gi case was conducted properly. The audit office of the Korean National Police Agency also plans to investigate Inspector Jang's act of destroying evidence.
Inspector Jang was found to have dismantled and discarded, into several pieces, a life-size adult product in the shape of a person, known as a sex doll, while clearing out his son's studio on May 8, three days after the incident.
The sex doll in question was reportedly damaged in the chest and neck by a sharp object. Prosecutors judged, based on this, that Jang Yun-gi had an intent to kill for the purpose of a sex crime.
After Jang Yun-gi's identity was made public, Inspector Jang moved his residence to an undisclosed location in South Jeolla Province and was found to have burned some of his son's belongings, including an old mobile phone.
During a supplementary investigation, prosecutors searched and seized Jang Yun-gi's family home and, in the process, confirmed the phone had been incinerated. However, Inspector Jang was not booked as a criminal suspect because a special provision under the Criminal Act exempts relatives from punishment for destroying evidence.
At the time of the incident, Inspector Jang was serving in a non-investigative unit at a frontline police station that was not directly related to the Jang Yun-gi investigation. He is currently on leave, according to reports.
The next trial for Jang Yun-gi, who has been indicted and detained on charges including rape-murder under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes, will be held at 10 a.m. on the 13th in the main criminal courtroom of the Gwangju District Court.
At the next hearing, the court is expected to review evidence, including a video showing the damaged condition of the sex doll. Attention is also on whether Jang Yun-gi's side, which has delayed stating a position on the motive, will present its view.