Innocence of Yoon Seong-yeo in the 'Lee Chun-jae 8th Case' Retrial... Police "Humbly Apologize"

On the afternoon of the 19th, Yoon Sung-yeo, the petitioner for retrial, appeared at the retrial sentencing hearing for the 8th case of the Lee Chun-jae serial murders held at the Suwon District Court in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi Province, responding to questions from the press. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] The police apologized on the 17th after Yoon Seong-yeo (53), who was wrongfully imprisoned for 20 years as the prime suspect in the 8th case of the 'Lee Chun-jae serial murders,' was acquitted in a retrial.

The National Police Agency issued a statement in the afternoon, saying, "We bow our heads and apologize to the retrial petitioner, victims, families, and all related parties," and added, "Although we eventually apprehended the true culprit of the serial murder case through reinvestigation and proved the petitioner’s innocence, we deeply regret causing great harm by branding an innocent young man as a murderer and making him serve 20 years in prison."

They continued, "'The protection of the inviolable basic human rights of every individual' is a solemn constitutional mandate and a natural duty of police officers," emphasizing, "As the primary investigative body and human rights advocate, the police will take this case as a lesson to reaffirm the value of human rights protection and make every effort to ensure that no innocent victims suffer again."

The police also added, "We will establish internal and external review systems as essential investigative procedures and strengthen human rights protection measures at each stage of investigation to enhance the completeness of investigations and ensure fair and responsible investigations."

The 8th case of Lee Chun-jae occurred on September 16, 1988, in Jinan-ri, Taean-eup, Hwaseong-gun, Gyeonggi Province, where Park Mo (then 13 years old) was sexually assaulted and murdered. Yoon, who was arrested as a prime suspect the following year, was sentenced to life imprisonment in the first trial. He denied the charges during the appeal, but the second and third trial courts dismissed his claims.

After serving 20 years and being paroled in 2009, Yoon filed for a retrial in November last year following Lee Chun-jae’s confession to the crimes. The court accepted the retrial request in January this year and decided to commence the retrial. The police revealed through reinvestigation that the investigators at the time had committed illegal acts, including harsh treatment of Yoon.

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