Jang Yoon-gi is surrounded by police officers and reporters at Gwangju Seobu Police Station in Gwangju, May 14. Newsis
The murder of a high school student in the southwestern city of Gwangju has escalated into a major scandal over alleged police corruption and abuse of power, dealing a serious blow to public trust in law enforcement amid the government's push to hand more investigative authority to the police.
In response to mounting criticism over the mishandling of the case, the National Police Agency on Thursday announced plans to launch a task force on reform and create an in-house unit dedicated to investigating police misconduct as part of efforts to establish stricter oversight measures.
What happened?
The killing occurred after the accused, 23-year-old Jang Yoon-gi, allegedly began to follow Lee Chae-won, 17, down a dimly lit walkway in the early hours of May 5 as she was heading home. Investigators say Jang had parked his car nearby and left the rear passenger door open, then came up from behind Lee and restrained her by the neck.
