Alleged coercive investigation by police of falsely accused man sparks furor

A local branch of the South Korean police is facing public scrutiny over its alleged coercive investigation of a man who was wrongfully accused of threatening a woman with sexual molestation.

The Hwaseong Dongtan Police Station in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province recently posted a notice on its homepage telling the public that internet users have wrongly identified multiple police officers as responsible for the controversial handling of the recent case. But people responded by chastising the police for its alleged actions in the investigation.

The incident occurred on June 23 when a woman in her 50s claimed that a man snuck into a women's bathroom and peeked into her stall. A 20-year-old man who entered the building at the time then got swept up in what he claimed was a coercive interrogation by the officers, who did not have any evidence to back their suspicion.

The charges against him were dropped on June 28 after the woman admitted to have falsely filed the report, saying that due to a prescription medication she takes, sometimes she says things that are not true.

The wrongly-accused man had been fighting for his innocence by posting a recording of a conversation between him and the police officers on his YouTube channel, "Eogulhan namja," meaning "wronged man," which he created the day after he was first accused.

The recording shows the officers talking to him in "banmal" -- an informal way of speaking that is sometimes used toward people of lower social status -- and saying, "You should admit the situation looks suspicious."

He was also told, “Just don’t do anything if you haven’t done anything wrong.”

After the incident, the police claimed to have apologized to the man, but he said he never received any apology. In another post on his YouTube channel, he showed a text message from the police that said, "Your case has been confirmed to be have been falsely reported, and we notify you that it has been closed with no charges."

"They (police) haven't contact me in any way since the 24th, and now they send one message... It feels like they are quickly wrapping up the case because they don't want to get in trouble," he said, thanking those who helped him fight the unjust accusation.

"To be honest, what would've happened to me if I hadn't distributed the recording of the conversation (with the police) immediately after the police approached me?" he wrote.

Nevertheless, he urged the public not to criticize all police officers, saying most officers work hard at their jobs.

In light of the public furor, a local lawyer named Yun Yong-jin started collecting signatures to request the dismissal of the officers responsible for the Dongtan case.