Police officer faces indictment over 2016 sex-video probe of Jung Joon-young

By Dong Sun-hwa

A police investigator faces indictment over the conduct of a sex-video probe into singer Jung Joon-young in 2016, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, Thursday.

The agency Wednesday sought a prosecutor's indictment against the policeman for dereliction of duty and document forgery. After Jung's girlfriend filed a complaint, the unnamed policeman did not confiscate Jung's phone or secure the sex video, the agency official said.

His probe of Jung only took 17 days, extremely short for such an investigation.

He did not submit Jung's mobile to the prosecution and forged an official document for the case, the agency said. Jung was cleared of the allegation in October.

Police also are seeking to indict Jung's lawyer, who is accused of negligence and concealment of evidence. He allegedly hid Jung's phone for about two years and seven months until police obtained it in March 2019. But the phone was already initialized and the content could not be recovered.

Jung is involved in a scandal over filming and sharing sex videos on mobile chatrooms, of which several K-pop stars, including Seungri, belonged.

“But it is unknown why the lieutenant and the lawyer didn't conduct a proper investigation,” an agency official was quoted as saying.