Key facts
- Prosecutors and police raided the national police investigation headquarters in Seoul.
- The raids are part of investigations into alleged mishandling of the Gwangju murder case.
- Allegations include police leaking investigative material to the suspect's father, a fellow officer.
- Prosecutors aim to secure evidence of leaks and potential destruction of evidence.
- A special police team is investigating potential intervention by the police investigation headquarters.
- The suspect, Jang Yoon-gi, is accused of murder and attempted murder.
- The government has apologized for the case and promised reforms.
Prosecutors and police separately raided the national police investigation headquarters on Tuesday as part of their probes into allegations of police mishandling of a high-profile murder case in Gwangju. The investigators sought to seize evidence related to the murder investigation, which has faced growing controversy over allegations that police in Gwangju leaked investigative material to the suspect's father, who is also a police officer in the city.
Officials from the Gwangju District Prosecutors Office executed a search-and-seizure warrant at the National Police Agency's National Office of Investigation. Subsequently, a special police team tasked with investigating the allegations carried out its own warrant.
Prosecutors aimed to secure evidence to confirm allegations that police leaked investigative material and destroyed evidence related to the murder case. The special police team, meanwhile, sought to seize records to check whether the police investigation headquarters had intervened in the case.
The suspect in the murder case, 23-year-old Jang Yoon-gi, is accused of killing a 16-year-old female high school student and attempting to kill a 17-year-old male student on May 5. Following mounting controversy over the police investigation, the government issued a public apology last week, vowing thorough reforms to the police investigation system.