Guksubonjang: "Valley Murder Case... Police Fully Cooperate with Prosecutors"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Jo] Nam Gu-jun, head of the National Investigation Headquarters at the National Police Agency, stated regarding the investigation of the 'Valley Murder' case, "I believe that the prosecution and police each fulfilled their respective roles within the current system."

At a press briefing on the morning of the 18th, Director Nam said, "The claim that the prosecution uncovered what the police had simply closed as an accidental death is clearly not true." Earlier, the prosecution had argued, "If the case had been prosecuted based solely on the evidence secured by the police, a not guilty verdict would have been reached." This implied that if the ruling Democratic Party's so-called 'complete separation of prosecution and police investigation' (Geom-su-wan-bak) bill is pushed forward, cases like the Valley Murder, where the police investigation alone has clear limitations in uncovering the substantive truth, will be repeated. Director Nam reiterated, "I do not think it is appropriate to approach this by saying someone did well and someone did poorly."

Regarding the overall investigation of the Valley Murder case, Director Nam explained, "The Gapyeong Police Station in Gyeonggi Province conducted an autopsy on the deceased, investigated call records and surrounding persons, and even looked into insurance matters, but since no clear charges emerged, the case was initially closed as an internal investigation." He added, "Subsequently, the prosecution discovered additional charges and is currently investigating, which is a fact." He further clarified, "The prosecution has the authority to conduct postmortem examinations related to deaths," and "Investigations related to cases are always conducted in consultation with the prosecution."

Regarding media reports that suspects Lee Eun-hae and Cho Hyun-soo, who were publicly wanted, were caught after traveling with acquaintances, Director Nam avoided a direct answer, stating, "Since the suspects' custody was immediately transferred to the prosecution office responsible for the warrant after their arrest, it is difficult to provide specific answers." When asked about the reasons for their long-term hiding and whether they had accomplices, he said, "The prosecution will investigate," and added, "Basically, I think the prosecution will continue the investigation after requesting warrants."

On additional charges against Lee and Cho beyond the Valley Murder case, Director Nam said, "We investigated accidents that occurred near the Seokbawi intersection in Incheon over the past five years, including a traffic accident, but nothing has been confirmed so far." He also stated, "We have obtained and are analyzing materials related to a snorkeling accident in Pattaya." As a countermeasure against insurance fraud crimes, he explained, "Since last year, to ensure expertise and fairness in insurance fraud investigations, cases have been centralized and are directly investigated by the provincial police agencies." He added, "We are promoting nationwide special crackdowns on insurance fraud in cooperation with related departments such as the Financial Supervisory Service."

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