Withholding Disclosure of Suspect's Identity in 'Bukhangang Corpse' Case... Objection Raised by the Individual

Over 5-Day Grace Period... Legal Action Still Possible

The police decided to disclose the personal information of an active-duty Army officer who murdered a female civilian employee he worked with, mutilated the body, and abandoned it in the Bukhan River in Hwacheon-gun, Gangwon Province, but the suspect raised an objection, causing a halt.

On the afternoon of the 7th, the Gangwon Provincial Police Agency held a Personal Information Disclosure Review Committee and decided to disclose the name, age, photo, and other details of Mr. A (38), who is accused of murder, corpse mutilation, and corpse concealment, according to a report by Yonhap News Agency on the same day. The committee judged that the conditions such as the brutality of the method, the serious damage, sufficient evidence to believe the crime was committed, the public's right to know, and public interest were met, and resolved to disclose Mr. A's personal information.

On the 6th, a field verification was conducted for active-duty military officer A (38), who killed a female civilian employee he worked with in Hwacheon-gun, Gangwon, mutilated the body, and abandoned it in the Bukhan River.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Since the introduction of the personal information disclosure system in 2010, this is the first case where a suspect with military status has been subject to personal information disclosure review. Accordingly, the police notified Mr. A of the decision to disclose his personal information, but Mr. A immediately filed an objection to the disclosure, so the police set a minimum grace period of five days (from the 8th to the 12th) and planned to disclose Mr. A's personal information afterward.

If, after this period, Mr. A files a 'request for provisional injunction to suspend the execution of personal information disclosure' with the court and initiates an administrative lawsuit, there is a possibility that the disclosure may not proceed depending on the court's judgment. Previously, in July 2020, the Gangwon Police decided to disclose the personal information of a man in his 30s who purchased child and adolescent sexual exploitation materials on the Telegram 'Nth Room,' but the court accepted the suspect's 'request for provisional injunction to suspend the execution of personal information disclosure,' and the disclosure did not take place.

Mr. A, an active-duty Army officer scheduled for promotion to lieutenant colonel, is accused of strangling and killing Ms. B (33, female), a fixed-term civilian employee, after an argument in his vehicle in a unit parking lot in Gwacheon-si, Gyeonggi Province, around 3 p.m. on the 25th of last month, mutilating the body, and abandoning it in the Bukhan River in Hwacheon, Gangwon Province, the following day.

On the afternoon of the 6th, the Gangwon Provincial Police Agency's Criminal Mobile Unit conducted an on-site verification with Mr. A near a floating bridge downstream of the Bukhan River in Hwacheon-gun. Mr. A, wearing a black hat, clothes, and a mask, got off the escort vehicle and responded silently to reporters' questions such as "Why did you kill the victim?" and "Do you have anything to say to the victim?" The police involved a profiler (criminal analyst) in the investigation to objectively clarify Mr. A's motive, and are also analyzing Mr. A's mobile phone.