National and Autonomous Police Dual System → Unified System... A Step Back in Police Authority Decentralization

Party-Government-Blue House Push for Autonomous Police System
Working in the Same Office, Only Commanders and Supervisors Separated
Possibility of Autonomous Police Remaining National Officials
Personnel and Budget Controversies Expected to Intensify

On the 30th, Kim Tae-nyeon, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, Choo Mi-ae, Minister of Justice, Jin Young, Minister of the Interior and Safety, Park Ji-won, Director of the National Intelligence Service, and other key attendees posed for a commemorative photo at the "Power Institution Reform Consultation for the People" held at the National Assembly. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] The ruling Democratic Party, government, and Blue House held consultations on the morning of the 30th and announced the 'Power Institution Reform for the People.' The proposed plan for the autonomous police system contained therein has been significantly revised from the autonomous police-related bill (existing plan) introduced by Democratic Party lawmaker Hong Ik-pyo in the 20th National Assembly.

However, as the model changed from the 'dual system' that guaranteed complete independence of the national and autonomous police to a 'unified system' that only separates police affairs and command, management, and supervision authority, criticism has become inevitable that the purpose of the autonomous police system, which was promoted as a measure to control the excessive expansion of police power following the adjustment of investigative authority, has regressed.

The biggest change in this announcement is that the complete dual system of the national police and autonomous police has been changed to a unified system model. In the existing plan, the autonomous police system was a system where personnel, budget, and organization were completely separated from the national police. However, the newly announced content keeps the existing organization intact and only disperses police affairs. The current organization, which continues from the provincial police agency to the police station, remains the same, while affairs that need to be unified nationally, such as intelligence, security, and foreign affairs, are handled by the national police; investigations by the National Investigation Headquarters; and community-related tasks such as traffic, security, and women and youth by the autonomous police. In other words, command, management, and supervision within one organization are divided among the Commissioner General of the National Police Agency, the National Investigation Headquarters, and the city/provincial autonomous police committees.

Regarding this, Cho Jung-sik, chairman of the Democratic Party Policy Committee, explained, "This was derived through consultations with related agencies to resolve criticisms and concerns about excessive costs due to the establishment of a new autonomous police organization and confusion caused by the dual system of national and autonomous police," adding, "It also took into account the public's concerns over large-scale fiscal spending due to the recent COVID-19 crisis."

If the unified system model is implemented, there will be no significant change in the police organizational structure. However, the subject receiving command will differ depending on the police duties. The problem is that the most important issues in public servant organization management?personnel authority and budget?were not announced this time. The ruling party, government, and Blue House have stated that they will discuss the details during the bill proposal process. However, it is questionable whether personnel and budget can be separated while maintaining the same organization. If the personnel and budget of the autonomous police are not separated from the national police, it may face criticism for going against the purpose of decentralizing police power.

Immediately, the status of the national police and autonomous police is also expected to become controversial. The existing plan stipulated that the national police would be national public officials, and the autonomous police would be local public officials. However, in the unified system model, even this remains unclear. A National Police Agency official said regarding the maintenance of the autonomous police's national status, "If they work in the same place, I think it should be maintained as such (national status)." While this seems reasonable at first glance, if the autonomous police maintain national public official status, a contradictory situation arises where they receive salaries from the state but take orders from the city/provincial autonomous police committees.

Now that the unified system model has been confirmed, the future task is how to prepare the detailed contents. Since the power of the prosecution has been reduced, a method must be devised to properly distribute the expanded authority of the police. However, at present, it cannot be denied that the autonomous police system has regressed compared to the existing plan.

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