Bill to strip family exemption filed after father of Gwangju high school killer destroys evidence without facing charges

A lawmaker has introduced a bill to eliminate a family exemption in criminal law after it emerged that the father of Jang Yun-gi — the man accused of brutally killing a high school girl he did not know in downtown Gwangju — destroyed key evidence while his son was in custody yet faced no punishment under the provision shielding relatives from prosecution.

Han Jeong-ae, a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker, on Wednesday filed a bill to remove the family exemption clauses in the Criminal Act that apply to offenses including harboring a criminal and destroying evidence.

Article 151 of the Criminal Act requires punishment for anyone who conceals or helps a person who has committed a crime punishable by a fine or heavier sentence. Article 155 mandates punishment for destroying evidence related to another person's criminal case.

However, both offenses carry a family exemption: when a relative commits either act on behalf of a family member, no punishment is imposed.

The destroyed evidence could be central to the entire case. While the minimum sentence for simple murder is five years in prison, murder committed for the purpose of rape carries only the death penalty or life imprisonment — making any suppressed evidence potentially decisive in determining the charges.

Justice Minister Jeong Seong-ho wrote on Facebook on Wednesday that "the reality is that it is difficult to immediately punish the father, an active-duty police officer, even though he destroyed critical evidence," adding that "there is a need to review whether the family exemption also requires reform."

Han said Korea's family exemption covers a comparatively broader range of relatives than those in other countries, which works in favor of perpetrators. She added that Japan does not uniformly waive punishment for evidence destruction among relatives but instead assesses the gravity of each case individually.

She said she would "abolish the family exemption regime under criminal law in line with the changing times, so that thorough investigations into serious crimes and appropriate punishment of perpetrators can be carried out."