PPP leader's visit to Gwangju police chief ends in standoff

People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok visited the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency on Thursday afternoon to protest allegations that police colluded to cover up evidence in the Jang Yun-gi murder case. His requested meeting with Police Commissioner Kim Yeong-geun did not take place.

Jang canceled a scheduled meeting with Prime Minister Han Seong-sook that day and traveled to the agency with Chief of Staff Park Jun-tae, Supreme Council member Shin Dong-wook, and lawmakers Seo Cheon-ho — a former police officer — and Kim Jang-gyeom. The group demanded a meeting with Kim but was denied entry to the building, leading to a roughly one-hour standoff with police outside.

"The public has witnessed this," Jang said. "This is the standard and the conscience of South Korea's police. This is why the lives and safety of citizens go unprotected — why evidence can be concealed and a case minimized simply because the suspect's father is a police officer."

He added that the officers who sought to conceal and manipulate the case were "standing there brazenly and without shame," and accused the Lee Jae-myung administration and the Democratic Party of Korea of planning to hand all investigative authority in the country to such a police force.

"Even under prosecutorial oversight, they conceal and manipulate cases," Jang said. "They want to give police unchecked power with no command or control whatsoever. Seeing this scene on Thursday, I have concluded that if police are allowed to monopolize investigative authority without supplementary investigative powers for prosecutors, the harm will ultimately fall on the people."

Lawmaker Seo said it was unacceptable that National Assembly members — a constitutional institution representing the public — had been barred from even entering the building while trying to verify the facts of the case. "How is this conduct any different from the allegations of evidence destruction raised during the investigation?" he said.

Lawmaker Kim criticized the police commissioner for what he called an act of evasion. "This is exactly why police are criticized as lapdogs of the regime," Kim said. "Didn't the commissioner run away the moment he heard we were coming?"

The Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency said the visit had not been arranged through prior consultation. Commissioner Kim was away from the office at the time, conducting an on-site inspection in response to heavy rainfall.