Was a Celebrity Female Cop Corrupt Herself?

Lieutenant Kang Soon-duk (38) of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s wide-reaching investigation team was known as the “policewoman who cracked down on generals” as she thoroughly investigated corruption among military generals. However, she was arrested by the police under charges of fabricating a driver’s license for a criminal wanted for forgery.

During a police investigation, it was revealed that Lieutenant Kang was introduced to the wanted criminal by the incumbent head of a local police agency, but the person denied all relevant charges, saying he never ordered her to forge the driver’s license.

The Gangnam police station of Seoul requested an arrest warrant for Kang on June 21 under the charges of accepting money in return for a forged driver’s license for a Mr. Kim (receiving bribes), who was on the run from the police for forgery.

According to the police, Kang is charged of being introduced to Kim by the police agency head in May or June of 1996 and forging the license for Kim when he was wanted by the police in May 2001, receiving 15 million won in return.

Lieutenant Kang supposedly used two photos of Kim and the personal information, like the resident registration number, of a Seoul police inspector K, whom she was close with, to issue a forged driver’s license at the Seobu Driver’s License Test Center, and gave it to Kim.

Kim committed burglary and theft for about two weeks from May 20 and was arrested by the police on June 15. During the police investigation, he confessed that he received a forged license after questioning from the police who found the picture on his driver’s license suspicious.

The police charged that Kang had issued a forged license for Kim from the Dobong Driver’s License Test Center using inspector K’s information in 1998 as well, but Kang denied all charges.

Meanwhile, the police are tracing funds as Kim, who was formerly in the construction business, stated that he “sent five million won every month, a total of 150 million won, to the local police agency head’s account from 1989 to 1992 under the guise of it being funds for teen heads of households.”

The police are concentrating their investigation on whether the local police agency head who introduced Kim to Kang ordered her to forge the driver’s license to help him flee.

The person explained, “I knew Kim, who was the director of a teen aid group at the time, and received help for funding teen household heads, but I never received personal money. I introduced him to Kang in 1996, but I did not know he was a wanted man at the time.”

However, in the investigation, Kim stated, “He knew I was wanted by the police at the time.”

Regarding the case, National Police Agency head Huh Joon-young said “If it is confirmed that the local police agency head acted inappropriately for a high-ranking officer, he will face consequences, such as dismissal.”

Jae-Dong Yu jarrett@donga.com