Jeon Hee-ryong, Governor of Jeju Province, "Police Law Revision Should Include Special Provisions for Jeju Autonomous Police"

Issued a Statement on the 10th Urging Special Measures for National Police Personnel and Budget Support

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Park Chang-won] Won Hee-ryong, Governor of Jeju, recently urged that “special provisions should be made to ensure the preservation of the Jeju Autonomous Police” amid the National Assembly’s revision of the ‘Police Act and Police Officers Act.’

On the 10th, Won Hee-ryong, Governor of Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, announced his position on the ‘Complete Revision Bill of the Police Act and Police Officers Act’ proposed by Representative Kim Young-bae of the National Assembly’s Public Administration and Security Committee.

Governor Won stated, “Jeju Province, which operates a separate autonomous police force differentiated from the national police, may see the autonomy guaranteed by the Jeju Special Act undermined,” and criticized, “This revision of the Police Act and Police Officers Act is an act that ignores the residents’ decision-making rights for local autonomy.”

He continued, “The residents of Jeju chose the ‘Jeju Special Self-Governing Province’ and the ‘Autonomous Police System’ through a referendum, even giving up the existing basic local governments of Jeju City, Seogwipo City, Bukjeju County, and Namjeju County,” emphasizing, “This is not a unilateral government policy push but the crystallization of local decentralization in the Republic of Korea, carried out by the decision of Jeju residents regarding local autonomy.”

He added, “Even amid the national disaster of the COVID-19 crisis, the Jeju Autonomous Police proved their necessity by enabling border-level quarantine through close cooperation with the administration,” and said, “Jeju, as a practical experiment for local decentralization, proudly stands as a core of local autonomy in the Republic of Korea through the autonomous police.”

Governor Won also pointed out, “The Jeju Autonomous Police is an ‘autonomous organization’ under the Jeju Special Act,” and “It is not a target for power decentralization of the ‘national police.’”

He urged, “Special provisions for Jeju Special Self-Governing Province must be included in the revised Police Act and Police Officers Act to ensure the preservation of the Jeju Autonomous Police, which is a core task of local autonomy,” and “Special provisions should be made in the revised Police Act to support the national police’s personnel and budget so that the Jeju Autonomous Police can smoothly perform roles equivalent to those of autonomous police in other cities and provinces.”

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