Police under fire for freeing men who terrorized Vietnamese woman, husband

(Herald DB)

Police are facing criticism for allowing two men to return to the house of a Vietnamese woman whom they had chased home and threatened before assaulting her husband.

On March 28, the woman was chased by a drunk man on her way to her house from a convenience store in a village located in Jindo-gun, South Jeolla Province, Korean broadcaster MBC reported Monday.

CCTV footage shows the woman running down an alley with a man running after her. The man followed her into her yard even after she entered her house, and appears to force the door open. The man then removed his shirt and threatened the couple, showing them his tattoos.

According to reports, the assailant called in another man and the two broke windows while forcing open the front door. The two assaulted the woman's husband, who was trying to protect his wife from being dragged away by the attackers.

Police arrived 10 minutes later, and took the two assailants to the police station. But police released them without arrest after taking statements and confirming their identities.

The case was recorded by the police substation but it was not reported to the main police station and no investigation was opened. Police told the Korea Herald that the information provided by the victims after the first call was insufficient to warrant further action. The police also cited the current system that discourages conducting overnight interrogation.

The men returned to the victim's home eight hours after their release, prompting the victim to call the police again. The attacker claims he had returned to look for keys he had lost at the scene.

Police returned to the house, registered the victim in the police system and gave her a smartwatch, a device that tracks the location and can be used to send out emergency alerts.

By Choi Jeong-yoon(jychoi@heraldcorp.com)