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Prosecutors Raid Gwangju Station and Secure Arrest Warrant in Teen Murder Inquiry

The seizures and detention request escalate a probe into alleged evidence destruction and leaks that could force broad reforms in police investigations.

This file photo, taken May 14, 2026, shows Jang Yoon-gi, who faces charges of murdering a teenage high school student and wounding another high school student, boarding a police vehicle at a police station in Gwangju, about 270 kilometers south of Seoul. (Yonhap)
A police officer appears at the Gwangju District Court in the southwestern city of Gwangju on July 8, 2026, for an arrest warrant hearing on his charges of destroying evidence as the former leader of an investigative team, which probed 23-year-old Jang Yoon-gi's murder of a 17-year-old high school student in Gwangju in May. (Yonhap)
This file photo, taken May 14, 2026, shows Jang Yoon-gi (C), accused of murdering a teenage high school student, speaking to reporters outside a police station in Gwangju, about 270 kilometers south of Seoul. (Yonhap)
A team leader (C) at Gwangju's Gwangsan Police Station, accused of destroying evidence in a high school girl's murder case, leaves the courtroom after attending a detention hearing at the Gwangju District Court in the southwestern city on July 8, 2026. (Yonhap)

Overview

  • Prosecutors carried out search-and-seizure operations at Gwangsan Police Station and the homes of several officers on Tuesday as part of an inquiry into alleged leaks and mishandling of evidence in the May killing of 17-year-old Lee Chae-won.
  • Investigators recovered an unopened zip tie from the suspect’s father and seized the SUV linked to the crime, and a Gwangju court approved an arrest warrant for the leader of the original investigation on suspicion of destroying evidence on Wednesday.
  • The National Police Agency has formed a special probe team, stripped or reassigned implicated officers, and the acting NPA commissioner cut short a U.S. trip while police announced a new task force to review past investigations and improve investigatory practices.
  • Lee’s family has publicly accused police of siding with the suspect and demanded an independent, full accounting of whether officers informed the suspect’s father or allowed him to remove items that could prove a sexual motive.
  • Prosecutors say proof of a sexual assault would raise sentencing options but that legal limits and the loss or tampering of items such as cable ties and phones complicate charging decisions, and forensic work on the vehicle and seized items is continuing.