Police Officer Transferred for Leaking Crackdown Information to Sex Trade Operators... Suspended from Duty

Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Metropolitan Investigation Unit and Intelligent Crime Investigation Unit Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] A police officer suspected of leaking information about prostitution crackdowns and even accompanying prostitution operators during the crackdowns has been found guilty in a police investigation and referred to the prosecution.

According to the police on the 27th, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Intelligent Crime Investigation Unit sent Police Sergeant A, affiliated with the Dongdaemun Police Station in Seoul, to the prosecution without detention on the 20th on charges including official secret leakage and dereliction of duty.

Sergeant A, who belonged to the Public Order Division of the Dongdaemun Police Station, is accused of conducting prostitution crackdown activities by actually accompanying prostitution operators at crackdown sites while performing duties related to vice establishments from last year to early this year. Sergeant A had previously explained, "It is true that I used a person I met during past prostitution crackdowns as a civilian informant, but I did not know whether that informant was actually a prostitution operator." According to the police investigation, it was confirmed that Sergeant A leaked confidential information related to the crackdowns to outside parties, among other misconduct.

Sergeant A, who had been on standby leave for about two months since February this year, was suspended from duty as of the 21st, immediately after the case was sent to the prosecution.

A police official stated, "He greatly damaged the dignity as a public official, and it was judged inappropriate for him to maintain his position. Regardless of whether he knew that the informant was actually a prostitution operator, the fact that a police officer accompanied another civilian at the crackdown site itself is problematic, and we are emphasizing that such incidents must never happen again."

The police plan to decide on disciplinary actions against Sergeant A based on the prosecution's investigation and trial results.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.