"Digging Through the Pocket Woke Him Up..." Son Jeong-min's Father Releases Witness Text Messages

Son Hyun, the father of the late Son Jeong-min, revealed text messages exchanged with a person presumed to be a witness on his blog.
[Photo by Son Hyun]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] On the 29th, the father of the late Son Jeongmin (22), who went missing and was found dead at Seoul Hangang Park, posted a blog entry titled "Witness and Briefing," questioning the police announcement. Son claimed that the information he received from the eyewitnesses differed from the police briefing.

Earlier, on the 27th, the police released a 23-page report on the investigation progress on the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency website, which included eyewitnesses divided into seven groups.

Son stated that among the eyewitness groups, "only two witnesses from the third group, who are known to have taken photos around 2:18 a.m. on the day of the incident, directly reported to us." He added, "On May 11, I contacted the witnesses, obtained the photos, and requested them to report to the police. Both of them went to the police station that day to provide their statements." However, he claimed, "After watching the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency briefing, I felt that the story we heard was different."

The photos Son obtained from the witnesses showed Jeongmin lying down intoxicated and his friend A squatting beside him. Son also said that to verify the location where the photos were taken, "I asked the witnesses to meet at the scene the next day (the 12th)." Before meeting the witnesses to confirm there were no misunderstandings, Son finalized the report content and sent a confirmation text to the witnesses. He attached the communication records with the presumed eyewitness on his blog.

According to the text messages in the attached photos, the witness observed Jeongmin and A from about 2:10 a.m. to 2:50 a.m. on the day of the incident. Initially, the witness paid close attention because Jeongmin and A were lying overlapped in an awkward hugging manner. Around 2:15 a.m., A appeared to be rummaging through Jeongmin’s pocket, and at about 2:18 a.m., A tried to lift Jeongmin but then squatted beside him, looking at his phone alone. The last sighting by the witnesses was Jeongmin and A lying side by side around 2:50 a.m.

The witness replied to Son’s text summarizing the incident, saying, "The hand movement looked like rummaging through a pocket, but I’m not sure if it was a pocket or something else," and added, "The rest of the details are all correct."

On the afternoon of the 29th, while the police investigation into the case of Son Jeong-min, who went missing and was found dead at Seoul Hangang Park, was ongoing, a memorial space for Son was set up at Banpo Hangang Park in Seocho-gu, Seoul.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

However, in the materials released on the 27th on the police website, regarding the photo taken around 2:18 a.m., it was stated, "The witness who submitted the photo testified that friend A was packing up next to the late Son Jeongmin, who was sleeping, and shaking him to wake him up."

Son found it strange that the police stated the witness saw "A waking Jeongmin" and said, "I contacted the witness again, despite the risk of causing inconvenience." According to the text messages Son disclosed, the witness, who received the police materials from Son, said, "Rummaging through the pocket is not waking him up at all," and added, "That doesn’t make any sense."

The witness also said, "I don’t know why they concluded it was rummaging through the pocket, but it’s wrong to make such a definitive statement," and "I gave an accurate statement, but it seems the message was miscommunicated." The witness further said they gave the same statement to the police and suggested, "It would be better to post our text conversation on the blog."

Son wrote, "The witness testified that A was lying on top of Jeongmin, who was lying down, and was rummaging around the pocket area with his left hand. Then A got up, dressed, packed his belongings, tried to wake Jeongmin once, and when Jeongmin didn’t get up, A squatted alone and looked at his phone."

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