[EDITORIALS]Look for an accomplice

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[EDITORIALS]Look for an accomplice

Suspicions are growing that the attacker of the Grand National Party leader committed the crime on behalf of, or with the help of, others. The details involve the attacker’s credit card and mobile phone bills.
The suspect, Ji Chung-ho, has been unemployed since last August, when he was released on parole from an imprisonment facility in Cheongsong.
He was provided a monthly welfare check for 180,000 won (about $190), which was virtually his only source of income.
But a credit card was issued under his name last November and as of last month he had since spent 7.6 million won. He never failed to pay his credit-card bills, which suggests that somebody was helping him out with money.
Mr. Ji claims that he paid the bills in installments, so that he had not actually spent as much money as it looks. Nevertheless, something is fishy about these expenditures.
A joint investigative team of prosecutors and police detectives said it was possible that Mr. Ji was not the only person involved in this attack. Prosecutors said this was based on witnesses’ testimony that there were more people working with the suspect.
If there are more people who helped Mr. Ji with the attack, they could be identified through a couple of ways, such as photos taken at the scene.
The tricky question is whether Mr. Ji worked on behalf of someone else. To find this out, his bank transactions and records of his phone calls need to be traced.
Prosecutors said they did not find a bankbook among the belongings that they had confiscated, but the next day, those same belongings produced a bankbook. This shows that their initial investigation was not thorough enough.
After being released from prison, Mr. Ji reportedly visited a legislator to ask for a job. This story also needs to be checked. The staff of the legislator explained that he had visited the office but that they had only listened to his story, considering it to be another complaint from a citizen.
However, Mr. Ji told his friends and families that he had found a job thanks to the legislator. Brutal attacks on politicians, which threaten democracy, must not take place again. Prosecutors need to thoroughly investigate whether Mr. Ji committed the assault with or on behalf of others.
In this way, the suspicion that the Grand National Party raised over the fairness of the investigation can be dismissed.
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