Transition Team: "Expansion of Senior Promotions for Police Officers and Introduction of Multiple Ranks"

Yongho Lee, the secretary of the Political Affairs, Judiciary, and Administration Subcommittee, is briefing on the current issues of expanding promotions to senior positions of police officers with the rank of superintendent or higher and the introduction of multiple ranks for police officers who started as patrol officers at the briefing room of the Presidential Transition Committee in Tongui-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the 15th.

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] The Presidential Transition Committee (PTC) announced on the 15th that it will expand promotions to senior positions of rank Police Commissioner and above for police officers who started as patrol officers and introduce multiple ranks.

Lee Yong-ho, spokesperson for the PTC's Political, Judicial, and Administrative Affairs Subcommittee, said at a briefing held at the PTC office in Tongui-dong, Seoul, that morning, "We aim to strengthen public security capabilities through police personnel reform and improved treatment."

According to the PTC, among the approximately 130,000 police officers currently, only 2.5% are graduates of the Korean National Police University, and 1.1% are from the officer candidate program, while about 127,000 officers, or approximately 96%, started as patrol officers. However, among the 129 senior officials of rank Police Commissioner and above, only 3 (2.3%) started as patrol officers.

Lee stated, "The PTC will first actively select patrol officers with excellent capabilities and qualities to increase the number of promotions to senior positions to 10%, and through institutional improvements such as the introduction of multiple ranks, gradually expand the promotion ratio to 20%. We have instructed the National Police Agency to promote measures to expand promotion opportunities for patrol officers," he said.

The PTC plans to prioritize discovering and promoting patrol officers who possess the necessary capabilities and qualifications and meet promotion requirements to achieve the goal of a 20% selection rate of patrol officers for senior positions of Police Commissioner and above. The pool of candidates eligible for promotion to Police Superintendent among patrol officers will also be gradually expanded over time to secure candidates for promotion to Police Commissioner.

Lee emphasized, "Until now, it took nearly 27 years for patrol officers to be promoted up to Police Superintendent no matter how hard they worked. As a result, reaching Police Commissioner was almost only possible near retirement age. Going forward, it is important to give these officers the dream and hope that if they work hard from the start and have sufficient capabilities, they can eventually become the Commissioner General of the National Police Agency. That is why we announced this policy."

Among the approximately 11,000 personnel currently serving in the Korea Coast Guard, the proportion of patrol officers in senior positions of Police Commissioner and above is only 5.3%, and promotion opportunities will also be expanded.

Lee also explained, "By introducing a multiple rank system, we plan to improve the pyramid-shaped rank structure that is excessively concentrated in lower ranks compared to other ministries and increase the total number of promotion opportunities to senior positions for patrol officers."

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