POLICE APOLOGIZES FOR COVER-UP ATTEMPT

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Controversy has flared up over a testimony that a police investigator looking into Vice Justice Minister Lee Yong-gu’s alleged assault attempted to cover up the case. Being strongly criticized for a series of flawed investigations, the police held a press conference and issued an apology.

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The police once again issued a public apology. This is, in fact, in less than a month since its head apologized for the police’s mishandling of a child abuse case. The move came after police were found to have lied about the existence of a dashboard camera footage suggesting the vice justice minister’s alleged assault on a taxi driver. Police had earlier claimed that there was no such video so they decided to close the case without additional investigation. Choi Seung-ryul, acting chief of the police’s National Investigation Headquarters, apologized for giving the misinformation at a press conference held at the National Police Agency building. The apology came four days after the taxi driver and the dashboard camera company's employee had claimed that the video had been restored but an investigator in charge allegedly said he was going to pretend he never saw it. According to the police, it seems the investigator in question did not report to superiors for having watched the video footage. Regarding a question about the investigator’s intention, Choi just said more explanations will be given after the ongoing fact-finding investigation comes to an end. Despite these allegations of a cover-up, the police suspended only one investigator from his duties and failed to confirm whether they secured the mobile phone in question.

[Soundbite] HAN SANG HIE(PROF., KONKUK UNIV. LAW SCHOOL) : "The police should have understood that having greater authority would require stricter obligation and work ethic. This case shows that they focused on claiming stronger position of power without determination to fulfill its responsibilities."

The vice justice minister said he had never contacted high-ranking police officials to seek help. But he did not comment on allegations that he had asked to delete the video after reaching a settlement with the taxi driver.