After the "Jang Yoon-gi case" raised suspicions of botched investigation and investigation cover-up by police, the police issued a public apology and moved to draw up measures to prevent recurrence. The police announced they would apply a rotational personnel system to the field to prevent collusion between police officers and local figures, and introduce a recusal rule to prevent police who are relatives of suspects from getting involved in investigations. Within the police, criticism has emerged that while the establishment of a police oversight body or the introduction of a recusal rule is understandable, the police are shifting responsibility onto local officers by introducing rotational personnel while excluding accountability for the investigation command line.
On the 22nd, an official from a regional police workplace council said in an interview with the Seoul Economic Daily, "As voices criticizing the police's botched investigation grow louder day by day in relation to the Jang Yoon-gi case, as a fellow uniformed police officer I feel apologetic to the bereaved family and the public." But the official added, "Announcing, before the substantive truth of the case has even been accurately revealed, that the cause of this case lies in police officers' collusion with their home regions, and stating that the rotational personnel system will be fully introduced as a countermeasure, violates the presumption of innocence."
The police and prosecutors currently investigating the investigation cover-up and botched investigation suspicions related to the Jang Yoon-gi case are examining two suspicions. One is the suspicion that Jang Yoon-gi's father and the investigation team leader of the Gwangsan Police Station in Gwangju destroyed evidence related to Jang Yoon-gi's key sex crime. The investigation team leader was referred to prosecutors under detention on charges of deliberately neglecting key sex crime evidence, allowing Jang Yoon-gi's father to destroy it.
The second is the question of whether the National Office of Investigation's (NOI) investigation command—which ordered the sex crime and murder charges to be investigated separately—was appropriate. Frontline police officers requested a "combined investigation" that would jointly investigate the sex crime case and the murder case, but under the order of former NOI Chief Park Seong-ju, a "separate investigation" was ordered, with the sex crime to be investigated by the Women and Juvenile Affairs Division and the murder by the Criminal Affairs Division. As a result, a suspicion has been raised that the crime was minimized by applying an ordinary murder charge instead of the more heavily punished rape-murder charge. The police and prosecutors have launched an investigation into the "upper echelons," including the then-Gwangsan Police Station chief (senior superintendent general) in Gwangju, as well as the NOI's violent crime investigation section chief and sexual violence investigation section chief.
In response, the police released a statement of apology on the 16th of this month and announced they would introduce a "rotational personnel system" and a "recusal rule" to resolve the issue of police officers' collusion with their home regions. When a case-related person is the spouse or lineal ascendant or descendant of a police officer working at the investigating office, reporting to the office chief and the metropolitan or provincial police agency command will be made mandatory to prevent case cover-ups. In such cases, the metropolitan or provincial police agency will either investigate directly or transfer the case to another office.
In addition, a plan was announced to grant substantial monitoring and control authority to the "National Police Commission" to activate its function of checking the police. The police also announced they would make the role of the Police Investigation Review Committee, which deliberates on objection cases raised by case-related persons, substantive. When there is a supplementary investigation request from a prosecutor at the prosecution service, if it is determined that the investigation team that referred the case failed to conduct a fair investigation, authority to request a change of the investigation team or investigating office will be granted. In addition, the police prepared internal measures including operating an internal corruption investigation unit directly under the National Office of Investigation chief and establishing a "reform TF for enhancing trust in police investigations" within the National Police Agency.
The problem is the "rotational work system." Local police take the position that presenting the introduction of the rotational work system as a solution to the issues currently pointed out as problems is inappropriate. First, the collusion issue between Jang Yoon-gi's father and the investigation team leader can be resolved through the introduction of the "recusal rule," which prohibits case stakeholders such as relatives from getting involved in investigations. In addition, since the police and prosecutors are currently examining the appropriateness of the NOI's investigation command at the time, the argument has emerged that preparing measures to identify the responsibility of the command line should take priority over a rotational work system for local police.
One regional police official said, "Since other occupations also implement recusal rules, I think it is natural that the police should follow suit to prevent situations where family members get involved in investigations." The official added, "However, the rotational work system will clearly bring confusion to numerous local police officers, so it needs to be reconsidered."
The official continued, "Many local police officers have given up advantages such as promotion in order to work in their home regions, so if a mandatory rotational work system is introduced, problems such as family support, transportation costs, and increased commuting time will arise." The official added, "It would be more realistic to instead prepare measures such as banning verbal orders, which can clarify where responsibility lies in the investigation department's command line."
