Hong Joon-pyo Plans Law Return to Police Overreach
Former Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo announced plans to re-register as a lawyer to monitor what he described as aggressive police behavior.
According to reports from Yonhap News Agency and Kyeonggi Ilbo, Hong stated on social media that he intends to resume his legal registration primarily to check potential police overreach, rather than to take on active defense cases. He compared the current political climate to the period when former President Lee Myung-bak was incarcerated, noting that times feel precarious enough to warrant vigilance against law enforcement agencies. The move follows a controversy in Jeju where a police officer allegedly fabricated the closure of a missing person case.
The Jeju Police Station Fabrication Allegations
The announcement stems from an arrest involving a police officer identified as Superintendent Boo from the Jeju Western Police Station.
According to investigators, Boo received a missing person report on May 15 regarding a 37-year-old man surnamed Jang from the man’s boyfriend. Investigators state that Boo falsely told the reporter he had contacted the missing person and closed the case independently about two and a half hours after taking the report. Police records indicate Boo also deleted Jang’s information from the missing persons profiling system.
Second Missing Person Case Discovered
Authorities discovered a similar pattern involving a missing report filed on June 2 for a man in his 60s.
According to police findings, Boo allegedly closed that case using identical methods. The body of the older man was discovered on June 22 in Jeju. Search teams located Jang’s body on June 24 at a palm tree orchard in Hallim-eup, Jeju. Police explained that while the fingerprints were destroyed, a forensic dentist provided a verbal opinion matching the dental records to the missing person, and DNA testing is currently underway on an emergency basis.
Charges and Rapid Legal Back-and-Forth
Prosecutors and police have charged Boo with dereliction of duty, falsifying and exercising public electronic records, and interfering with the execution of official duties through fraudulent means.
According to judicial reports, Boo was arrested on June 22 but released two days later when a local court accepted a review of the legality of his detention. Following the release, prosecutors re-applied for an arrest warrant, and the court placed Boo back under custody on the afternoon of June 25.