Police Who Covered for Seungri Behind the Scenes: Citizens’ Committee Reports Burning Sun Police Chief to Prosecution

The Citizens’ Committee for Civil Rights and Public Livelihoods (hereafter referred to as the “Citizens’ Committee”) announced on July 11th that they had filed a complaint against Superintendent Yoon Gyu-geun on July 10th. The complaint accuses him of abuse of power, violation of the Anti-Graft Act, and influence peddling.

According to reports, the complaint accuses Yoon of obstructing the police investigation into the 2019 Burning Sun scandal, which implicated several well-known celebrities.

According to the complaint filed by the Citizens’ Committee, Yoon engaged in activities such as having meals and playing golf with Seungri and officials from Yuri Holdings while fulfilling his duties as the Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs at the Blue House in July 2017. The committee alleged that these actions, which purportedly involved shielding Seungri and obstructing the investigation, amounted to an abuse of power.

The committee, together with Yoon, lodged complaints against Lee Jae-hoon, who was the chief of the Seoul Gangnam Police Station, and Min Gap-ryong, who was the commissioner of the National Police Agency, for reportedly limiting the scope of the investigation in response to external pressure from superiors.

During the Burning Sun incident, Yoon was given the nickname “police chief”in the KakaoTalk group chat that included Seungri and Jung Joon-young. This raised suspicions of possible collusion between the police and celebrities. Yoon was later charged for reportedly accepting stocks in return for providing information on police operations and attempting to conceal evidence during the investigation.

Despite being found guilty of several charges, including evidence tampering and violating the Capital Markets Act, and being given a fine of 20 million won in 2021, the Supreme Court only suspended Yoon from his police position for three months.

Despite being relieved of his duties due to the Burning Sun scandal, Yoon returned to his position at the Songpa Police Station earlier this year.

On June 12th of the previous year, the Citizens’ Committee filed a report against Yoon for allegedly accepting alcohol bribes from employees and pressuring female employees to attend karaoke gatherings while he was serving as chief of the General Affairs Department from July 2021. Furthermore, they alleged that he impeded the process of departmental transfers based on personal demands.