Police Officer from the Union Who Collapsed During Hunger Strike Against Police Bureau to Meet Yoon Hee-geun Tomorrow

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] Yoon Hee-geun, the nominee for Commissioner General of the National Police Agency, will hold a meeting with the representatives of the Workplace Council (Jikhyup) on the 21st. It is known that Min Gwan-gi, the chairman of the Workplace Council at Cheongju Heungdeok Police Station in Chungbuk, who collapsed after a hunger strike opposing the establishment of the Police Bureau under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, will also attend the meeting.

According to a compilation of reports on the 20th, the meeting between nominee Yoon and the Jikhyup representatives will be held the next day at the National Police Agency in Migeun-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul. From the police leadership side, attendees will include nominee Yoon, Kim Sun-ho, head of the Security Investigation Bureau and leader of the personnel hearing preparation team, and Kim Jun-young, the Planning and Coordination Officer. From the Jikhyup side, representatives elected from each city and provincial police agency’s Jikhyup will attend, led by Yeo Ik-hwan, chairman of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Jikhyup. The Jikhyup side explained that about 20 people will participate.

Among the attendees, Chairman Min stands out. On the 5th, he began a hunger strike, stating, "The establishment of the Police Bureau under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety is a revival of the former Security Headquarters of the Ministry of Home Affairs and a regression to anti-democratic bureaucratic authoritarianism against the times." On the 13th, the ninth day of his strike, he lost consciousness and was transported to the hospital. Although he is recovering his health at the hospital, it is reported that he is not yet in a condition to be discharged. Chairman Min is expected to request leave from the hospital on the day of the meeting and head to the National Police Agency.

The meeting was arranged as the police leadership, focusing on resolving internal confusion caused by the establishment of the Police Bureau under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, proposed a communication opportunity to the Jikhyup, which had strongly opposed the measure through acts such as head shaving and hunger strikes. The main contents and measures of the recently announced police system improvement plan, including the establishment of the Police Bureau, will be discussed, and the results of the working-level consultative body operated with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety will be shared. A senior police official said, "If the Jikhyup side has any plans regarding the follow-up measures of the Police Bureau under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, we plan to listen to those opinions as well."

The Jikhyup side stated that since the differences in positions are clear, they intend to listen to the leadership’s perspective. A Jikhyup official said, "We expect this to be an opportunity to hear explanations from the leadership about the practical operation plans for the Police Bureau and parts where misunderstandings occurred due to our incorrect knowledge during negotiations with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety." Currently, within the Jikhyup, opinions opposing the establishment of the Police Bureau predominate, but minority views of resignation such as "there is no way" and negotiation approaches like "let’s watch the leadership" also exist. The Jikhyup plans to compile these opinions and convey them to the leadership.

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