Police Push to Return Investigator's Mobile Phone Amid Allegations of 'Cheong Wa Dae Directed Investigation'

Min Gap-ryong, Commissioner of the National Police Agency

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] The police are pushing to retrieve the mobile phone of a prosecution investigator who made an extreme choice while under investigation in the 'Cheongwadae election interference suspicion and directive investigation' case from the prosecution.

On the 6th, Min Gap-ryong, Commissioner of the National Police Agency, said at a press conference held at the police headquarters in Migeun-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, "I am relieved that the prosecution has painstakingly decrypted the phone to verify various related suspicions," adding, "Since the mobile phone was originally discovered and held by the police at the scene, we expect to receive it back and secure the necessary parts for the police investigation."

He continued, "Once the prosecution finishes extracting the data, we will receive the phone back, extract the data needed by the police from the materials opened by the prosecution, and conduct a final investigation to conclude the death case."

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office National Digital Forensic Center unlocked the deceased investigator's mobile phone at the end of last month. It is known that the prosecution analyzed the forensic data of the mobile phone in the presence of detectives from the Seoul Seocho Police Station and the bereaved family.

The prosecution and police have been in conflict over suspicions related to Cheongwadae election interference and directive investigations. When a prosecution investigator, a former member of the Cheongwadae special inspection team linked to the Ulsan mayoral election interference suspicion, made an extreme choice in November last year, the prosecution immediately seized the mobile phone and handwritten notes found at the scene from the Seocho Police Station the day after the death.