Jang Ja-yeon scandal resurfaces
Published on | Source
By Park Si-soo
Police have come under growing public pressure to reopen its investigation into the suicide of actress Jang Ja-yeon who was allegedly forced to entertain and provide sexual services to business and media group heavyweights.
Jang was found dead at her home in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province, after killing herself on March 7 2009. She was 27.
Feeling the pressure, Justice Minister Lee Kwi-nam told a session of the National Assembly that he will "consider" reinvestigating the case, Monday.
The move to reopen the case came one day after SBS TV disclosed the main contents of 230 pages of letters Jang allegedly sent to one of her close aides between 2005 and just days before her death in March 2009.
In the letters, she described the ordeal she endured in detail and identified the 31 people she was forced to "serve", calling them "evil". Among them are heads of entertainment agencies, big companies, financial firms and media companies, SBS reported.
"We will first confirm whether they were written by the late actress. The relationship between Jang and the aide is also subject to the probe", said a police officer at Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency, which handled the case two years ago.
SBS didn't unveil the names for privacy concerns. It said the handwriting in the letters was confirmed by experts to be identical to that of Jang.
The newly-disclosed letters showed how humiliating and inhumane the situation she faced was.
Jang said in the letters she was forced to "serve" the 31 figures at karaoke and upscale bars over 100 times. Jang had to even skip a memorial event for her late parents to "entertain" them, according to the report.
In one letter, she openly expressed her grudge against the figures, calling them "evil" and vowing to "retaliate" even after she died.
"I should meet another evil whenever I earn new clothing", she said in a letter, imploring her aide to retaliate against people named on the list. "I will retaliate (against them) even after I die".
Will it be different this time?
But it remains to be seen how aggressively police will reinvestigate the case and find new evidence backing her allegations in the letters.
Dozens of bigwigs — possibly included in the latest list of names — were questioned by police in 2009 over whether they had been "entertained" by the late actress.
The initial investigation was launched based on another note saying that Jang was forced to have sex with them in exchange for receiving favorable treatment in her career in the highly competitive showbiz industry.
Back then, police sent their results to the prosecution, demanding 20 figures be indicted. But the prosecution refused to act, citing the lack of evidence.
Only two people — Jang's manger and head of her management agency — were indicted and found guilty of abusing her.
Senior investigators also denied any link between her and the questioned high-profile figures in a news briefing in 2009, saying the allegations against them were "groundless".
But the latest finding is casting suspicion that police and prosecution covered up critical evidence against the figures that were questioned.
장자연 리스트 재수사, 법무장관 "수사 검토"
- 경찰이 장자연 성접대 리스트를 재수사한다.
경기 분당경찰서는 7일 장자연이 쓴 걸로 추정되는 편지에 대해 필적을 감정할 계획이다. 이귀남 법무부 장관은 국회 법제사법위원회에 출석해 장자연 리스트 수사를 검토하겠다는 자세를 보였다.
민주당 박지원 원내대표가 "(리스트에 적힌)31명을 우리는 다 알고 있다. 검찰은 수사를 하고 있느냐"고 묻자 이 장관은 "검토해보겠다"고 답변했다. 그러나 박 원내대표가 "검토하겠다는 건 수사하겠다는 뜻으로 해석하면 되느냐"고 되묻자 이 장관은 "(그런 뜻은)아니다"고 대답했다. 검찰이 나서 장자연 리스트를 재수사할 상황은 아직 아니란 뜻이다.
민주당 천정배 최고위원은 "검찰이 (장자연)편지를 제대로 조사하지 않았고 진실을 은폐했다"면서 "검찰과 경찰은 장자연 리스트를 공개하고 처음부터 다시 수사하라"고 요구했다. 민주당 차영 대변인도 "(장자연 리스트를)방송한 방송사는 리스트를 공개함으로써 국민의 알 권리를 완성시키기 바란다"고 촉구했다.
배우 장자연은 2009년 3월 자살했다. 당시 장자연 매니저가 성접대를 강요받았다고 주장하면서 파문을 일으켰지만 장자연 리스트에 오른 31명은 증거 부족을 이유로 무혐의 처분을 받았다. 하지만 SBS <8 뉴스>가 6일 장자연이 쓴 걸로 추정되는 편지를 공개하면서 장지연 리스트에 대한 관심이 급증했다.
장자연 사건을 수사했던 경찰 관계자는 "편지를 제공한 인물이 범죄자로서 장자연과 관련이 없는 사람이었다"고 밝혔다. 그러나 민주당과 민주노동당 등 야권이 장자연 리스트 공개와 재수사를 요구함에 따라 장자연 리스트는 정치 이슈로 떠오르게 됐다. 이런 가운데 경찰이 장자연 리스트를 재수사할 뜻을 밝혀 리스트 공개 여부에 세간의 관심이 집중되고 있다.
Police have come under growing public pressure to reopen its investigation into the suicide of actress Jang Ja-yeon who was allegedly forced to entertain and provide sexual services to business and media group heavyweights.
Jang was found dead at her home in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province, after killing herself on March 7 2009. She was 27.
Feeling the pressure, Justice Minister Lee Kwi-nam told a session of the National Assembly that he will "consider" reinvestigating the case, Monday.
The move to reopen the case came one day after SBS TV disclosed the main contents of 230 pages of letters Jang allegedly sent to one of her close aides between 2005 and just days before her death in March 2009.
In the letters, she described the ordeal she endured in detail and identified the 31 people she was forced to "serve", calling them "evil". Among them are heads of entertainment agencies, big companies, financial firms and media companies, SBS reported.
"We will first confirm whether they were written by the late actress. The relationship between Jang and the aide is also subject to the probe", said a police officer at Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency, which handled the case two years ago.
SBS didn't unveil the names for privacy concerns. It said the handwriting in the letters was confirmed by experts to be identical to that of Jang.
The newly-disclosed letters showed how humiliating and inhumane the situation she faced was.
Jang said in the letters she was forced to "serve" the 31 figures at karaoke and upscale bars over 100 times. Jang had to even skip a memorial event for her late parents to "entertain" them, according to the report.
In one letter, she openly expressed her grudge against the figures, calling them "evil" and vowing to "retaliate" even after she died.
"I should meet another evil whenever I earn new clothing", she said in a letter, imploring her aide to retaliate against people named on the list. "I will retaliate (against them) even after I die".
Will it be different this time?
But it remains to be seen how aggressively police will reinvestigate the case and find new evidence backing her allegations in the letters.
Dozens of bigwigs — possibly included in the latest list of names — were questioned by police in 2009 over whether they had been "entertained" by the late actress.
The initial investigation was launched based on another note saying that Jang was forced to have sex with them in exchange for receiving favorable treatment in her career in the highly competitive showbiz industry.
Back then, police sent their results to the prosecution, demanding 20 figures be indicted. But the prosecution refused to act, citing the lack of evidence.
Only two people — Jang's manger and head of her management agency — were indicted and found guilty of abusing her.
Senior investigators also denied any link between her and the questioned high-profile figures in a news briefing in 2009, saying the allegations against them were "groundless".
But the latest finding is casting suspicion that police and prosecution covered up critical evidence against the figures that were questioned.
장자연 리스트 재수사, 법무장관 "수사 검토"
- 경찰이 장자연 성접대 리스트를 재수사한다.
경기 분당경찰서는 7일 장자연이 쓴 걸로 추정되는 편지에 대해 필적을 감정할 계획이다. 이귀남 법무부 장관은 국회 법제사법위원회에 출석해 장자연 리스트 수사를 검토하겠다는 자세를 보였다.
민주당 박지원 원내대표가 "(리스트에 적힌)31명을 우리는 다 알고 있다. 검찰은 수사를 하고 있느냐"고 묻자 이 장관은 "검토해보겠다"고 답변했다. 그러나 박 원내대표가 "검토하겠다는 건 수사하겠다는 뜻으로 해석하면 되느냐"고 되묻자 이 장관은 "(그런 뜻은)아니다"고 대답했다. 검찰이 나서 장자연 리스트를 재수사할 상황은 아직 아니란 뜻이다.
민주당 천정배 최고위원은 "검찰이 (장자연)편지를 제대로 조사하지 않았고 진실을 은폐했다"면서 "검찰과 경찰은 장자연 리스트를 공개하고 처음부터 다시 수사하라"고 요구했다. 민주당 차영 대변인도 "(장자연 리스트를)방송한 방송사는 리스트를 공개함으로써 국민의 알 권리를 완성시키기 바란다"고 촉구했다.
배우 장자연은 2009년 3월 자살했다. 당시 장자연 매니저가 성접대를 강요받았다고 주장하면서 파문을 일으켰지만 장자연 리스트에 오른 31명은 증거 부족을 이유로 무혐의 처분을 받았다. 하지만 SBS <8 뉴스>가 6일 장자연이 쓴 걸로 추정되는 편지를 공개하면서 장지연 리스트에 대한 관심이 급증했다.
장자연 사건을 수사했던 경찰 관계자는 "편지를 제공한 인물이 범죄자로서 장자연과 관련이 없는 사람이었다"고 밝혔다. 그러나 민주당과 민주노동당 등 야권이 장자연 리스트 공개와 재수사를 요구함에 따라 장자연 리스트는 정치 이슈로 떠오르게 됐다. 이런 가운데 경찰이 장자연 리스트를 재수사할 뜻을 밝혀 리스트 공개 여부에 세간의 관심이 집중되고 있다.
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