"Bereaved Families Unable to Hold 49th Memorial Ceremony... Want Punishment for Investigators in 'Hwaseong Elementary Student Disappearance Case'"

Legal Representative of Bereaved Family Lawyer Lee Jeong-do
Reported Police Investigator's Dereliction of Duty and Harboring a Criminal During the Incident
"Can Be Interpreted as a Continuous Offender... Expecting a Progressive Judgment"

Police are searching for the remains of the "Hwaseong missing elementary school student," confirmed to have been killed by Lee Chun-jae, using equipment such as ground-penetrating radar at Park A in Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi Province.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] "They said they couldn't even perform the 49th-day memorial rite. How could they do that to their own child... We hope for a progressive judgment for the bereaved families who have suffered for 30 years."

The 'Hwaseong Elementary School Student Disappearance Case,' revealed to be a murder case by Lee Chun-jae after 30 years. Attorney Lee Jeong-do of Law Firm Chambon, who is the legal representative of the victims' families, conveyed the families' feelings in a calm tone during an interview with Asia Economy. The attorney said, "The families were so shocked to learn it was Lee Chun-jae's doing that they were unable to eat or sleep."

Attorney Lee filed a complaint on behalf of the families with the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office and the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency on the 30th of last month. The complaint reflected the families' desire for strict punishment of the police investigators who concealed the case at the time. Attorney Lee emphasized, "It's not about compensation or restitution; the position is that those police investigators must be punished no matter what."

The case dates back to July 7, 1989. At that time, Kim Mo (then 8 years old), a second-grade elementary school student in Taean-eup, Hwaseong-gun, Gyeonggi Province, disappeared on her way home from school. The police found Kim's backpack and clothes five months later but could not find any significant clues, and it had been known until now as an unsolved missing person case for 30 years.

Attorney Lee Jeong-do of Law Firm Chambon, who serves as the legal representative for the bereaved family.

However, the truth began to emerge with Lee Chun-jae's confession. In particular, police investigations confirmed circumstances where the detective chief and detective at the time found Kim's belongings and the bones of both hands tied with a jump rope but downplayed it as a simple missing person case and actively tried to conceal it by writing false investigation reports. The police have filed charges against the investigators at the time for corpse concealment and evidence tampering.

The problem is the statute of limitations. The statute of limitations for evidence tampering is 7 years, and for dereliction of duty by a public official, it is 5 years. Since the case is from 30 years ago, it is difficult to hold them accountable when calculated from the time of the concealment acts. Regarding this, Attorney Lee emphasized that the investigators at the time were 'continuing offenders' who persisted in illegal acts.

Attorney Lee stated, "The statute of limitations for harboring a criminal and dereliction of duty begins after the infringement of legal interests ends. The act of harboring a criminal ended only when Lee Chun-jae confessed, and the illegal status of dereliction of duty ended only after the police officer retired, so the statute of limitations can be interpreted to start from then." He added, "I hope the investigative agencies, understanding the feelings of the families who lost their loved ones unjustly, will have the will to make a progressive judgment."

Meanwhile, this complaint case was assigned to the Criminal Division 6 of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office. The Criminal Division 6 is currently in charge of reinvestigating Lee Chun-jae's '8th case,' which has been reopened for retrial. It appears to have been assigned because the police investigator who committed harsh acts during the investigation of Yoon Mo (52), who requested the retrial, and the investigator who concealed the missing person case are the same person.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.