'Shillim-dong Hiking Trail' Incident... Jurisdiction Police Officer Booked for Drunken Disorderly Conduct

Seoul Gwanak Police Station Inspector A Booked on Property Damage Charges
Missing Persons Team Leader... Position Vacant During High School Student 'Missing Commotion'

On the day of the sexual assault and murder incident on a hiking trail in Sillim-dong, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, it was revealed that a senior officer from the local police station was intoxicated and damaged someone else's vehicle.

According to the police on the 23rd, the Gwanak Police Station in Seoul booked Sergeant A, affiliated with the Gwanak Police Station, on charges of property damage after he damaged the side mirror of another person's car on a street in Gwanak-gu around 11:30 p.m. on the 17th.

On the morning of the 22nd, postcards and flowers commemorating the victim were hung near the site of the sexual assault incident on a hiking trail in Gwanak-gu, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Police who responded to a witness report arrested Sergeant A at the scene and identified him as a police officer. The day Sergeant A was arrested while intoxicated was the same day a sexual assault incident occurred on a mountain hiking trail in Sillim-dong.

Sergeant A was the head of the missing persons team in the Criminal Division of the Gwanak Police Station but was reassigned to a local precinct in the jurisdiction the following day, the 18th. At that time, a missing person report had been filed for a high school student who had been out of contact for four days in Gwanak-gu.

However, due to Sergeant A’s personnel transfer, the position of head of the missing persons team at the Gwanak Police Station was reportedly vacant. A police official explained, “Before the missing person report, Sergeant A had already applied for parental leave and was reassigned to a nearby precinct.”

They also stated, “Although Sergeant A was booked by the Gwanak Police Station, investigations into affiliated officers are prohibited, so the case was transferred to another police station within Seoul for investigation.” Sergeant A is scheduled to undergo disciplinary procedures following an internal investigation by the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.

Recently, as crimes such as violent attacks with weapons and online murder threats have occurred in various regions, the police have declared a ‘special security operation,’ so the controversy is expected to grow.

30-year-old Choi Yoon-jong, the rapist and murderer in Sillim-dong.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

On the 23rd, the personal information of the suspect Choi Yoon-jong (30), who assaulted and sexually assaulted a woman to death in broad daylight on a hiking trail in Sillim-dong, Gwanak-gu, Seoul on the 17th, was disclosed. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency held a personal information disclosure committee that afternoon and released Choi Yoon-jong’s mugshot, name, and age.

The police explained the reason for disclosing the information, citing the suspect’s meticulous planning of the crime, including purchasing a weapon and scouting the crime scene, as well as the brutality of the crime and the severity of the harm caused by attempting sexual assault on an unspecified woman in a public place, resulting in death.

They also stated that the suspect’s confession, sufficient evidence such as CCTV footage at the scene, and consideration of the public interest, including the preventive effect against similar crimes, were taken into account.

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