Minister Sang-min Lee: "Preliminary Meeting with Police Commissioner General... Different Dimension from Police Chief Verification"

Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min is answering questions from the press on the afternoon of the 9th before meeting with Commissioner General Kim Chang-ryong at the National Police Agency in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] Lee Sang-min, Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, visited the National Police Agency in Migeun-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul on the 9th, saying, "I came to have a meeting with the command staff and exchange some kind words."

The minister arrived at the National Police Agency around 3:55 p.m. that day and, when asked by reporters about the purpose of his visit, said, "It has been almost a month since I took office." Earlier, the minister had caused controversy last month by holding preliminary meetings with candidates for the next National Police Agency Commissioner, leading to various interpretations of his actions on this day. Regarding this, the minister said, "As far as I know, the candidates for the National Police Agency Commissioner have not yet been decided. The people I met were candidates for the Senior Superintendent General rank, and before making personnel recommendations, it is impossible to evaluate them only by documents, so I met them in person to discuss various matters." He added, "It was a meeting to assess their suitability as candidates for Senior Superintendent General, and the criteria for the National Police Agency Commissioner require verification and review on a different level."

Regarding the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's recent formation of an advisory committee for police system improvement, which is discussing the establishment of a Police Bureau as an organization to assign and execute police affairs under the minister's office, he drew a line by saying, "I have not communicated with the advisory committee." He elaborated, "I understand that the advisory committee is independently identifying discussion topics, and once results come out, we will discuss them again." In response to some criticisms that the Ministry's moves to control the police are excessive, the minister said, "I think it is a matter of a different dimension."

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