Acting Police Chief Returns Early Amid Murder Case Controversy

SEOUL, July 8 (Yonhap) -- The acting national police chief will cut short his trip to the United States and return home early amid growing controversy over the police response to a high-profile murder case, the agency said Wednesday.

Acting National Police Agency Commissioner Yoo Jae-seong is in the U.S. to attend the United Nations Chiefs of Police Summit (UNCOPS) from July 5-11, but he will return home on Friday "given public concern and interest" regarding the recent murder case involving a female high school student, according to the agency.

Allegations have intensified over possible ties between local investigators and the father of Jang Yoon-gi, the suspect accused of killing a 17-year-old female student and attempting to murder a 17-year-old male student in the southwestern city of Gwangju in May.

Jang's father is a serving police officer in the city.

Multiple officers at Gwangju's Gwangsan Police Station were stripped of their duties and placed under investigation by a special probe team established by the National Police Agency over allegations of leaking investigative information and destroying evidence related to the case.

Prosecutors also conducted search and seizure operations at the police station and the residence of Jang's father on Tuesday.

Police sought an arrest warrant for the officer, who led the murder investigation, amid suspicions of misconduct, and the Gwangju District Court approved the request on Wednesday, citing risks of evidence destruction and flight.

According to sources, the special probe team recently secured testimony that the murder case investigation team leader instructed his colleagues to leave cable ties found in a compartment of Jang's vehicle untouched.

The cable ties are considered a potentially important clue to establishing the motive for the alleged crime, as they may have been intended for use in restraining the victim.

The items were recovered during Tuesday's search and seizure operation, and investigators found that Jang's father had removed them from the vehicle.

The probe team is examining the circumstances surrounding the instruction and whether it involved the police chain of command.

The controversy comes at a time when lawmakers are debating whether to abolish prosecutors' authority to request supplementary investigations, raising questions about the police's ability to independently handle major criminal cases.