In response to the Jang Yoon-ki incident, police have identified 117 cases involving the families of officers across the country. Of these, 44 cases raised concerns about the fairness of investigations and have been transferred to other police stations.
The National Police Agency announced on July 28 that a comprehensive investigation was conducted from July 10 to 22, focusing on cases involving police officers' families.
The investigation targeted cases where the individuals involved were spouses or direct descendants of officers working at the police station handling the case. Even if the officer is no longer employed at that station, cases involving their family members from the past three years were included. This encompassed not only suspects but also victims, complainants, and witnesses.
For the 73 cases that were not transferred, the police plan to reassess the appropriateness of the investigation process monthly. Matters requiring further investigation or oversight will be handled by provincial police agencies rather than local police stations.
This comprehensive review was initiated after it was revealed that Jang Yoon-ki's father is a current police officer, raising allegations of negligence, concealment, and internal collusion during the investigation of the case.
Park Mo, the former head of the investigation team at the Gwangju Gwangsan Police Station, which handled the Jang Yoon-ki case, has been arrested on charges of evidence destruction, dereliction of duty, leaking official secrets, and abuse of power. The prosecution extended Park's detention by ten days on July 24 to continue the investigation. The final determination of the charges will be made in court.
Following this incident, the National Police Agency has begun a nationwide review to prevent potential conflicts of interest in cases involving police officers and their families. Acting Commissioner Yoo Jae-sung publicly apologized on July 10 regarding the Jang Yoon-ki case and announced plans to reform police investigations.
During the review, additional cases involving police officers' families were also identified.
The Jeonbuk Provincial Police Agency recently charged Officer A, who works at a police station in Jeonju, with evidence destruction. Officer A is accused of disposing of evidence after learning that his teenage son had illegally filmed a teacher. The police are conducting a formal investigation into this case.
The National Police Agency plans to establish a management system to continuously oversee cases involving police officers' families based on the findings of this investigation.
A police official stated, "We will develop a management plan to continuously oversee cases involving police officers' families based on the results of the comprehensive investigation."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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