Rival parties clash over Jang Yun-gi case, with DP demanding reinvestigation and PPP defending prosecutors' role

The Democratic Party of Korea said Saturday that if law enforcement officers shielded the father of Jang Yun-gi — the man convicted of murdering a high school girl in Gwangju — rather than pursuing him, their conduct amounted not to a botched investigation but to complicity under the guise of one.

Party spokesperson Park Kyung-mi made the remarks in a written briefing, calling for a sweeping reinvestigation that mobilizes every available resource. "A full reinvestigation with no sacred cows is the only answer," she said.

Park said all those who took part in destroying or omitting evidence must be placed back under investigation, and that the full truth hidden behind what she called "a vast curtain of concealment" must be brought to light without a shadow of doubt.

She said that as public outrage mounted, police announced organizational reforms including a new task force and an internal corruption investigation unit, but added that what the public demands is not cosmetic, face-saving measures but fundamental reform that requires cutting into one's own flesh.

Park said the Democratic Party would watch to the end to ensure the reinvestigation proceeds in line with public expectations, and pledged to stand with the people "until the day those who tried to bury the truth with the hand of power face the consequences."

Floor spokesperson Lee Ju-hee, in a separate written briefing, took aim at the People Power Party, which has been boycotting National Assembly proceedings. "If the PPP has concerns about the bill to abolish supplementary investigation powers, it is the duty of Assembly members to raise them during the legislative review process," she said.

The PPP fired back, arguing that the full details of the Jang Yun-gi case came to light precisely through prosecutors' supplementary investigation — a power the Democratic Party is seeking to abolish.

Chief spokesperson Park Sung-hoon said in a statement that prosecutors' supplementary investigation was what made it possible to uncover the full, ugly truth of a rape-motivated murder that police had nearly buried through negligence. "This is a painful lesson that proves in reality why the safeguard of supplementary investigation is absolutely necessary," he said.

Park also criticized YouTuber Kim Eo-jun, saying he had claimed on his channel that "cases like this happen several times a year," and accused Kim and figures associated with the Democratic Party of trying to obscure the essence of the case by pushing what he called an incitement framing centered on manipulating public opinion and rolling back prosecutorial powers.

Floor chief spokesperson Choe Eun-seok said in a statement that cases which would never have been resolved without prosecutors' supplementary investigation continue to come to light. "Abolishing supplementary investigation powers means eliminating one more opportunity to protect victims," he said.