National Police Agency Commissioner Cho Hyun-oh has offered to resign, taking responsibility for the lax police response in a rape and murder case.

On April 2, a 28-year-old woman was murdered more than six hours after she reported to the police at 10:50 p.m. on the previous day that she was being sexually assaulted.

“I ask for the forgiveness of the family and express my deepest condolences. I will take all responsibility for this and step down,” Cho said on Monday.

“I reproach myself and offer heartfelt apology in the knowledge that the police’s carelessness brought such terrible results, and for disappointing the public with lies.”

He added that he would overhaul related systems such as the 112 police emergency call system before his resignation is processed, saying that he alone could take responsibility for the developments.

Meanwhile, a Cheong Wa Dae spokesman has said that Cho’s resignation would be accepted as the police were clearly at fault in this case.

“Commissioner Cho’s resignation will be processed as it is clear that the police responded poorly. However, it has not been decided whether it will be processed immediately or after the situation has been handled,” Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Park Jeong-ha said.

The victim, a 28-year-old woman surnamed called the police and reported that she was being raped in Suwon. The police station responsible for the area, Suwon Jungbu Police Station, dispatched a team of detectives to the area but failed to locate the victim. In addition, the officer receiving the call is heard saying on the police tape that the call appears to be a domestic disturbance.

The victim’s remains were found more than 13 hours after the victim called the police at about 10:50 p.m. The victim’s body had been dismembered and placed into 14 black plastic bags by the suspect.

Later investigations, however, revealed that she was alive for about six hours after she first called the police.

While on the phone with the police, the victim was discovered and beaten by her killer. Her phone was dropped, without the call being disconnected, allowing the police to hear what was happening for more than six minutes. The victim was then tied up, and killed after 5 a.m. on April 2 when she resisted his attempts to sexually assault her.

The victim had specified that she was inside a house near a playground in the vicinity of Jidong Elementary School, but officers dispatched to the scene are reported to have searched the playground and outside nearby houses.

According to the victim’s family, the police officers dispatched to the scene were also irresponsible.

According to the family, two police officers waiting in a police vehicle with the victim’s older sister were sleeping while the search was under way saying only that “others were looking diligently.”

In addition, the victim’s family has also testified that police officers had gotten within 10 meters of the house she was found in.

In addition, officers at Suwon Jungbu Police Station later asked the sister to go to a fire station to bring back information regarding the location of the victim’s mobile phone.

In the early hours of April 2, the victim’s family kept trying to get in touch with her but failed. Her phone was picked up at 8:02 a.m. on April 2, but immediately disconnected.

“I was told (by the victim’s sister) that the police said ‘if you don’t want to get your sister killed, get the location (of the mobile phone) from the fire station,’ and the search went underway in earnest after she relayed the information to the police,” the victim’s uncle said.

By Choi He-suk
(cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)