Six months after the death of the late Director Kim Chang-min due to assault: Will the two suspects be arrested? [Star Issue]

*This content was translated by AI.

Six months have passed since the late Director Kim Chang-min was assaulted and died, and the two suspects now face a critical decision on whether to be arrested.

The two suspects accused of assaulting and killing the late Director Kim Chang-min are undergoing pre-arrest interrogation (substantive review of the arrest warrant) at the Namyangju Branch of the Uijeongbu District Court starting at 10:30 a.m. on the 4th. A decision on their arrest is expected to be made this afternoon.

The Criminal Division 2 of the Namyangju Branch of the Uijeongbu District Prosecutors' Office, which is investigating the case, requested arrest warrants for the two suspects, A and B, on charges of causing death by injury and violation of the Disability Welfare Act on the 28th of last month. The Prosecution Service is expected to emphasize the necessity of arrest-based investigation during this interrogation, focusing on the seriousness of the criminal allegations and concerns about flight and destruction of evidence.

The Prosecution Service, which established a dedicated investigation team, is reported to have secured crucial circumstantial evidence while conducting searches and seizures at the suspects' residences and summoning them for questioning. It is also reported that the Prosecution Service captured evidence suggesting the suspects made statements during phone calls indicating they "intended to kill" and attempted to coordinate their stories.

Suspect A and others, who appeared at the court to attend the substantive review of the arrest warrant, did not respond to reporters' questions asking if they had anything to say to the bereaved family, bowing their heads in silence.

The late Director Kim Chang-min visited a restaurant in Guri, Gyeonggi Province, with his developmentally disabled son around 1 a.m. on October 20, 2025, where he was assaulted by a group led by suspect A, who was seated nearby. He was rushed to a hospital but was declared brain dead on November 7, 2025, and passed away after donating his organs to four recipients.

Following this, the police initially identified only suspect A as a suspect before the victim's death and applied charges of aggravated assault, requesting an arrest warrant, which was rejected. In response to the police's request for supplementary investigation, suspect B, who was present at the scene, was added as a suspect, and arrest warrants were requested for both individuals on charges of causing death by injury. However, the court rejected the request, stating there was no concern about the destruction of evidence or flight.

Ultimately, the Prosecution Service, which took over the case from the police, formed a dedicated team consisting of three prosecutors and five investigators and launched a reinvestigation.

The late Director Kim Chang-min, born in 1985, entered the film industry in 2013 as a prop coordinator for the film "Suspect." Since then, he has participated in numerous films, including "Only One Way Out" (2018), "King of Pigs" (2018), "The Witch" (2018), and "Firefighter" (2024), as part of the art department.

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*This content was translated by AI.