Draft:Murder of Lee Chae-won

Murder

This is an incident that occurred around 0:10 AM on May 5, 2026 (Children's Day), near Nambu University in Gwangsan -gu, Gwangju , where 23-year-old Jang Yoon-gi killed 17-year-old high school student Lee Chae-won whom he had never met before, with a weapon and also seriously injured a male high school student, Mr. Go, who ran over after witnessing the incident. Based on the fact that there was no relationship between the victims and the suspect, the police determined it to be a crime with an unusual motive.

Jang Yoon-ki purchased a weapon in advance before committing the crime and attempted to flee by escaping in a vehicle, discarding evidence, and washing his clothes , but was arrested on the spot about 11 hours later. During the investigation, he reportedly stated that he committed the crime after contemplating suicide.

Ms. Lee died while receiving treatment, and Mr. Go sustained injuries and is receiving treatment. Education authorities set out to provide psychological support and safety measures for the victimized students and school members, while citizens set up a memorial space at the scene to express their condolences. The police decided to disclose the suspect 's identity following a review by the Identity Disclosure Deliberation Committee.

The suspect Jang Yoon-ki's father is known to be an active police officer . In particular, as suspicions of evidence destruction were raised during the investigation and controversy surrounding the police's initial response continued, interest in whether the investigation was fair is growing.

Meanwhile, controversy arose as new circumstances were discovered suggesting that Jang Yoon-gi, who had claimed the crime was accidental, had unilaterally known the victim long before the crime occurred. On July 15, 2026, the Special Investigation Team of the National Police Agency’s National Investigation Headquarters held a briefing on the interim investigation results regarding this matter at the Gwangju Police Agency and announced that they had confirmed circumstances supporting a premeditated crime from the mobile phone (unlocked phone) Jang Yoon-gi was carrying at the time of his arrest. The Special Investigation Team also stated that they are investigating the circumstances under which the Gwangsan Police Station investigation team failed to investigate these circumstances despite being aware of them during the initial stages of the investigation.