Advisory Committee Announces Next Week's Recommendations... Controversy Over Minister's Police Investigation Command Authority

Minister's Office Adds Public Security and Judicial Police
Realizing Police Senior Appointment Recommendation Rights

Police Vertical Structure Independence Violation Backlash
Experts "Ministry of the Interior Interferes with Police"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy reporters Seongpil Jo and Byeongdon Yoo] Controversy surrounding the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's control over the police is expanding to the minister's investigative command authority.

The "Police System Improvement Advisory Committee" (Advisory Committee), formed under the direction of Minister Lee Sang-min of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, will hold a press briefing on the 21st at 1 p.m. at the Government Seoul Office, where co-chairmen Han Chang-seop, Vice Minister, and lawyer Hwang Jeong-geun will explain the recommendations. The Advisory Committee is reportedly concluding to add "public security" and "judicial police" to the minister's duties and to promote the actualization of the police's authority to propose senior personnel appointments.

The plan also reportedly includes elevating the Public Security Policy Office, which implies the revival of the Police Bureau that operated until 1991. The Public Security Policy Office is expected to have authority over police personnel and budget, similar to the Prosecutor's Office function within the Ministry of Justice. This is interpreted as a measure to check the police, whose powers have increased following the passage of the "Complete Removal of Prosecutorial Investigation Authority" (Geomsu Wanbak) law, which weakened the prosecution's authority.

The inclusion of judicial police under the minister's duties is interpreted within the police as effectively granting investigative command authority. This is a significant point that foreshadows major conflicts intertwined with the current three-tier system of national police, National Investigation Headquarters, and autonomous police.

Within the police, there have been criticisms that the revival of the Police Bureau could create a vertical structure between the Minister of the Interior and Safety and the Commissioner of the National Police Agency, infringing on police independence. Adding judicial police further establishes a vertical structure between the Minister and the head of the National Investigation Headquarters. The police's investigative authority has already expanded due to adjustments in investigative authority between the police and prosecution and the Geomsu Wanbak law, and they will also take over counterintelligence investigative authority. Critics argue that the bloated police effectively coming under the influence of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety is a return to the days of the Security Headquarters of the Ministry of Home Affairs, which held counterintelligence investigative authority.

Professor Kim Do-woo of the Department of Police Science at Gyeongnam University stated, "There is a high possibility that the Minister of the Interior and Safety will indirectly influence the police's investigative or judicial authority," adding, "It only appears that the Ministry of the Interior and Safety is trying to intervene in the police in some form." Some opinions suggest it should be viewed similarly to the Ministry of Justice Minister's investigative command authority over the prosecution. In response, a frontline police official rebutted, "The Ministry of Justice Minister's investigative command authority is limited to exceptional cases, but the Ministry of the Interior and Safety Minister is generalizing exceptions." The Ministry of the Interior and Safety plans to finalize the direction of police control based on the Advisory Committee's recommendations after legal review.

Minister Lee Sang-min of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety has not disclosed specific positions on the various controversies but stated that appropriate control is necessary. Commissioner Kim Chang-ryong of the National Police Agency said on the police internal network, "We will firmly express the police's will and intentions through normal and proper methods and procedures." The announcement on the 21st is expected to proceed without the minister or commissioner present. Minister Lee will lead the "Government-wide Joint Digital Government Cooperation Delegation" visiting Indonesia and Georgia from the 16th to the 21st. Commissioner Kim will tour Europe for five days and two nights from the 19th to the 23rd.

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