Jinan Police Accused of 'Burying' Complaints in County Chief Election

A team leader at the Jinan Police Station is under fire for notifying the complainant in advance of a decision not to refer the case (no charges). This is criticized as an unusual situation where an investigator implies their personal judgment on the case's handling direction in advance, which deviates from standard investigative procedures. The host added that there is a need to raise issues regarding the internal atmosphere of the Jinan Police Station.

Preliminary candidate Han Soo-yong strongly criticized the arrogant attitude of Jinan Police Station investigators and five illegalities in the investigation process. He claimed that investigators misspelled legal terms, sent insincere messages, and unilaterally notified and pressured him to appear. He also alleged that they distorted his request for jurisdictional transfer to a higher authority as a refusal to appear, attempted judicial deception through false legal notices, and tried to forcibly close the case through telephonic threats.

The Jinan Police Station notified that it could not punish the alleged macro manipulation of a specific candidate's YouTube views because it occurred before the enforcement date of the Information and Communications Network Act, raising suspicions of judicial deception. The investigator stated that since the Information and Communications Network Act would be enforced starting July 7, it could not be punished currently. However, this appears to disregard existing precedents where macro manipulation can be punished as obstruction of business, leading to suspicions of a lenient investigation favorable to a specific candidate.

Suspicions have been raised that the Jeonbuk Provincial Police Agency Ethics Audit Unit conducted a perfunctory audit by investigating at a location unrelated to the core of the case. The audit unit visited a coffee shop unrelated to the complainant instead of the location where money was allegedly exchanged during the election period, attempting to secure CCTV footage. This occurred several months after the incident. The panelist raised suspicions that the Ethics Audit Unit might be intentionally breaking up the case to cover it up.

Despite preliminary candidate Han Soo-yong appealing the Jinan Police Station's unfair investigation through the National Sinmungo (citizen petition portal) and requesting jurisdictional exclusion, the complaint continued to be reassigned to the Jinan Police Station. Han stated that despite his pleas and warnings not to send the complaints to Jinan, all cases were routed back to Jinan through the responsible police sergeant and captain. He claims that even the petition cases were covered up, and he personally underwent complainant investigations and submitted materials to protest the unfairness.

The Jeonju District Prosecutors' Office questioned the Jinan Police Station's decision not to refer the case and ordered the consolidation of the case and transfer to the Jeonbuk Provincial Police Agency for reinvestigation. However, the Jinan Police Station ignored this and sent the case back to the Jinan Police Station, an unprecedented situation. The host criticized the police for committing an 'outrage' by disregarding the prosecution's investigative directive and re-sending the case to Jinan, even after the prosecution ordered supplementary investigation. This has led to a serious controversy where prosecutorial authority has been disregarded in the process of handling supplementary investigation cases.