Late Jeong Min's Friend Says "Aware of Blackout... Cannot Recall Circumstances Favorable to Himself"

29th 22-page Statement Clarifies Suspicions
"No Memory from Day Before Jeongmin's Disappearance to Second Visit Next Day"
"Please Delete Baseless Speculations, Personal Information Exposure, and Online Posts"

Attorney Yang Jeong-geun, lawyer of A, a friend of the late Son Jeong-min, who appeared on SBS's "Unanswered Questions" / Photo by SBS

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] The friend A, who drank with the late Son Jeongmin at the time of his disappearance, has clarified various suspicions surrounding A. In particular, regarding the authenticity of A's 'blackout (temporary memory loss)', it was emphasized that "he cannot remember circumstances that could be advantageous to himself."

On the 29th, in the SBS current affairs program "Unanswered Questions" (Geu-al), A's legal representative, lawyer Yang Jeonggeun, appeared and refuted the various allegations against A point by point.

Lawyer Yang said, "One of the many misunderstandings even now is that A selectively remembers things favorably or such misunderstandings exist," and explained, "In reality, (A) cannot remember most circumstances that could be advantageous to himself, and the times were not specifically remembered but later matched with objective data."

Regarding the fact that A called his parents around 3:30 a.m. on the 25th of last month, when Jeongmin went missing, he said, "The person who received the call at that time was (A's) father," and "A did not remember making this call at all."

He added, "From here, according to A's father's statement, the main content of the conversation was 'I'm struggling because I'm drunk,' 'the deceased won't wake up,' 'you're too drunk, so quickly wake your friend and send him home, and you just take a taxi and come home quickly,' etc."

The closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of Hangang Park released by Jeongmin's father, Son Hyun, on the 23rd. Friend A is seen climbing over the fence and heading into the park. / Photo by JTBC

Earlier, Jeongmin's bereaved family released a 13-page statement on A4 paper on the 26th, raising suspicions about A.

In the statement, the family said, "When we first learned of Jeongmin's disappearance, we did not suspect A at all and rather expressed consideration and gratitude," but "on the third day of the disappearance, the 27th of last month, we found out through the police that A and his father had hidden the fact that they had a phone call around 3:37 a.m. on the day of the disappearance, and we also learned of several other actions by A and his family that were hard to accept."

The family expressed doubts about A's appearance on CCTV footage, noting that he did not seem intoxicated enough to experience a blackout, and urged the police to "focus the investigation on video analysis, polygraph tests, additional profiler interviews, etc."

In response to these claims by the bereaved family, A's side released a 22-page statement to clarify. A's lawyer, Jeong Byeongwon, pointed out in the statement released on the 29th, "From the family's perspective, they can speculate and raise suspicions in their own way," but "this is an excessively result-oriented conjecture based on the premise that all responsibility lies solely with A's side."

Regarding the timing of A's blackout, lawyer Jeong explained, "A experienced blackout from the time he met the deceased, bought alcohol, and started drinking again at Hangang Park, around 11:14 p.m. on the 24th of last month, the day before the disappearance," adding, "He remembers the events before that at a normal level, but from the time he started drinking until about 6:10 a.m. the next day, when he finished his second visit to Hangang Park and returned home, he has almost no memory."

He also requested restraint from spreading unverified speculation about A and his family online.

Lawyer Jeong urged, "Baseless speculation, raising suspicions, spreading false information, insults, doxxing, and other illegal acts are still ongoing," and "We sincerely ask that all related posts on the internet be deleted, and from this point on, we request that no further harm occurs."

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