'Self-Quarantine Lifted' Yoon Hee-geun Faces Internal Recovery Task... Meeting with Medical Association Next Week

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] Yoon Hee-geun, the nominee for Commissioner General of the National Police Agency who tested positive for COVID-19, will be released from self-quarantine on the 16th. He now faces the task of calming the internal atmosphere, which has worsened due to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's announced police system improvement plan amid backlash.

According to the National Police Agency, Yoon will be released from self-quarantine at midnight on this day and will return to work as usual. He tested positive for COVID-19 on the 11th and has been in self-quarantine for seven days in accordance with quarantine guidelines. It is known that he received reports on police issues and gave work instructions even during the quarantine period.

Yoon, who is expected to return to work normally on Monday the 18th, will first focus on managing the unsettled internal atmosphere caused by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's police system improvement plan. In particular, the Police Workplace Council (Jik-hyeop), which has strongly opposed the plan through intense protests such as head shaving, fasting, and the three-step, one-bow ritual (samboilbae), is fiercely resisting. The Jik-hyeop postponed issuing a statement immediately after the Ministry's announcement yesterday and held a strategy meeting. They plan to announce an official position next week based on the discussions. Yoon is scheduled to hold a meeting with the Jik-hyeop on the 21st.

Opposition from frontline police officers outside the Jik-hyeop is also not subsiding. Earlier, on the 11th, Yoon posted a letter on the police internal network stating, "There is great public concern about a series of expressions of opinion that could be seen as collective action, and there is increasing worry that a gap in field security might occur," which backfired. Following Yoon's letter, a "group comment deletion relay" ensued, where comments opposing the letter were posted and then deleted, leaving traces. The comments that were not deleted included statements such as "Collective action is for the sake of the organization."

Amid this backlash, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced a police system improvement plan centered on the establishment of a Police Bureau yesterday. On the police internal network, opposition continues with comments posted immediately after the Ministry's announcement and then voluntarily deleted. Comments included remarks such as "The result of ignoring the outcry of 140,000 police officers," "Slave contract," "The highest commander has become the minister," and "If this were a plan for the police, frontline police opinions should have been reflected."

Yoon is expected to attempt communication with frontline police officers in any form, including face-to-face meetings. Earlier, the National Police Agency stated in a position paper following the Ministry's announcement, "We will communicate sincerely, even if slowly, so that concerns and worries in the field can be transformed into pride and self-esteem."

Yoon must also prepare for the confirmation hearing for the Commissioner General position. The government submitted a request for a confirmation hearing for Yoon to the National Assembly on the 8th. According to the Confirmation Hearing Act, the hearing process must be completed within 20 days from the date the request is submitted to the National Assembly. If the deadline is exceeded, the government may request the National Assembly to resubmit the hearing report within a period of up to 10 days. After confirming his status as a nominee on the 5th, Yoon formed a 10-member confirmation hearing preparation team led by Kim Soon-ho, Director of the Security Investigation Bureau of the National Police Agency (Chief Superintendent), and has begun full-scale preparations for the hearing.

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