Criticism of Investigation Issues Including CCTV Point by Point
'Byeonsasa Incident Review Committee' is "a System for Solving Unsolved Cases"
Near the water taxi dock at Banpo Hangang Park in Seoul, citizens are giving carnations and other gifts to Son Hyun, the father of the late Son Jung-min. Photo by Yonhap News
[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] Son Hyun, the father of the late Son Jeongmin, who went missing after drinking at Hangang Park and was later found dead, expressed a skeptical view of the "Unexplained Death Case Review Committee," calling it "a good system to resolve the case if they do not want to leave it as an unsolved case."
On the 22nd, Son posted an article titled "A Time to Choose for Jeongmin" on his blog, stating, "Originally, I was going to petition to prevent the police from holding the Unexplained Death Case Review Committee or ask related departments to make phone requests, but since the police's will is unwavering and it would not be strange to hold it tomorrow, I decided to move on to the next step."
He said, "I mentioned early on that as we walk this path that no one has experienced before, we will come to understand what kind of country ours is," adding, "At that time, I did not know what that meant, and even now, I do not know where the end will be."
He continued, "Having nothing left to lose, we will exercise all the rights guaranteed in our country, whether it takes five years or ten years," and said, "There are two things that have changed significantly from what I initially expected."
One is, "I thought there was a possibility that the investigation would reveal many suspicious circumstances, but it became difficult because we missed the initial time," and the other is, "I thought it would be a lonely path with no one interested, but many people have thought of it as their own matter."
He added, "Needless to say, those who support us are many, and seeing comments telling me to stop blogging means it has been very successful. It means people are concerned," emphasizing, "I never asked for it to be on the news; I just write my story, and no one has the right to stop me from doing that."
Text messages exchanged between the late Son Jeong-min and his father Son Hyun, who was found dead after going missing following drinking at Hangang Park. Photo by Son Hyun's blog
Son then said, "I will summarize what I have learned since the incident occurred. It may help a perfect crime, so please refer to it," mentioning nine points.
First, he pointed out problems with closed-circuit television (CCTV). He said, "It seemed like a police state that could catch everything, so I reported even picking up money and lived cautiously, but when it actually happened, it was extremely sloppy," and claimed, "Even the hard-to-get footage can only be seen by the police." He also pointed out that each CCTV has a short retention period, making it difficult to secure footage.
He then mentioned the initial investigation and the golden time, saying, "It is said that the missing persons team used to be under the violent crimes division, but at some point, it was transferred to the women and youth department," criticizing, "Since missing cases are not linked to violent crimes and start as simple disappearances, the most important golden time is missed."
Son also pointed out other issues such as △ errors in tracking Hangang base station locations, △ claims of entering the Hangang River with unknown circumstances, △ unreliable digital forensics, and △ polygraph tests that cannot be accepted as evidence.
He particularly referred to the police's "Unexplained Death Case Review Committee," held to decide whether to close the case, saying, "It is a good system to resolve the case if they do not want to leave it as an unsolved case," and added, "The victim does not care; they can just tie up the loose ends."
Regarding blackout claims, he said, "If you just claim it, it is accepted for hours," adding, "If you drink a few bottles of Makgeolli and show vomiting while crouching or climbing over fences, it is even better."
Summarizing, Son said, "As I write, I keep becoming cynical," and disclosed past text messages exchanged with Jeongmin. He concluded the post by saying, "The content was only about taking him to the academy and school, so I feel sorry and upset. Jeongmin, I am really sorry."
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