(Graphic by Park Ji-young/The Korea Herald) Of the 117 cases identified by the National Police Agency as involving officers' relatives, there were 45 in which the family member was a suspect, according to a report released Sunday.South Korean police in July conducted a nationwide inspection on cases involving police officers' families, and found that 117 of them had been opened from July 10-22.The office of Rep. Chung Choon-saeng of the minor opposition Rebuilding Korea Party analyzed the cases to find the nature of their involvement and the relationship to the officers.In the remaining 72 cases, the police officer's relatives were victims or had filed a complaint or petition.Thirty-three were married to an officer's, 47 were parents or grandparents, and 37 were the officer's children or grandchildren.The data did not include more distant relatives of police officers.Chung's report found that 111 of the cases were assigned to local-level police stations, while six were handed by metropolitan or provincial police agencies.The NPA on July 28 announced that 44 cases involving family members of police officers had been transferred to different police stations or agencies, for fairness, while 15 others were under review.Thirty-two cases were either closed or near closing, and 26 were deemed not to pose threat of unfair conduct. Even the cases that have not yet been transferred will be inspected monthly, to ensure that unfair measures have not been taken.Potential problemsThe prosecution's investigation into Jang Yoon-ki, a 23-year-old man accused of murdering a high school girl in May, revealed that the suspect's father, uncle, and their colleagues may have interfered with ongoing investigations to conceal critical evidence related to the crime.Jang's father is a police officer who worked for over 20 years in Gwangju, where the crime took place.In light of the nationwide furor, the NPA last week decided to implement a system where a police officer would not be able to handle cases related to his or her direct family members, starting September. The police task force on the issue also decided on stronger supervision of cases on which the prosecution has requested additional investigation.It was the prosecution's supplementary investigation that brought to light the alleged police interference by Jang's family members and other officials in Gwangju.Chung's report also showed that police have not monitored or managed officers handling cases involving their family members. Instead, a police officer has to voluntarily request not to handle such cases, but this has happened on only a handful of occasions.Chung's report showed that police officers have made just 77 such requests since 2020.