Angry Police Officers... Opposition Spreads from 'Team Leader Meeting → All Police Meeting'

Dark clouds are gathering over the Seoul Seodaemun-gu Police Station. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] Although President Yoon Seok-yeol on the 26th labeled it as a ‘national disgrace,’ internal opposition to the establishment of the Police Bureau under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety is growing uncontrollably.

Kim Seong-jong, Superintendent of the Gwangjin Police Station in Seoul (Police Academy Class 14), who initially proposed the nationwide field team leaders’ meeting, posted on the police internal network that morning, stating, "Originally, the nationwide field team leaders’ meeting was planned to be held at the Police Human Resources Development Institute, but due to the passionate requests of many field colleagues, it was changed to a ‘nationwide meeting of all 140,000 police officers.’" He particularly explained, "After hearing conspiracy theories that a specific group was leading the opposition to the Police Bureau, I judged it necessary to listen to the opinions of all police officers and inform the public, so the scope of meeting participants was expanded."

Superintendent Kim wrote, "This meeting is a discussion planned and promoted solely by me, unrelated to ‘guns’ or ‘weapons,’ and has nothing to do with a ‘coup d’?tat.’ I hope any police colleagues who wish for or are interested in a coup d’?tat will refrain from attending." He also addressed Police Commissioner Candidate Yoon Hee-geun, saying, "At 2 p.m. on the 30th, all 140,000 police officers nationwide will hold a meeting on the same topic as the chief superintendent meeting held last week. We will closely watch whether you will issue the same illegal dispersal order to all 140,000 police officers as you did to the chief superintendents."

Earlier, Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min criticized the nationwide police chiefs’ meeting, comparing it to the ‘Hana Group 12.12 Coup,’ and said, "It is comparable to the Hana Group because it is led mainly by certain (Police Academy) graduates." The figure leading the chiefs’ meeting is Chief Superintendent Ryu Sam-young, a Police Academy Class 4 graduate. He is a classmate of former Police Commissioner Kim Chang-ryong, who voluntarily resigned last month opposing the establishment of the Police Bureau. Chief Superintendent Ryu was placed on standby duty after forcibly holding the chiefs’ meeting on the 23rd at the Police Human Resources Development Institute in Asan, Chungnam, despite opposition from the leadership. An investigation is underway regarding the 56 chief superintendents who attended the meeting. Minister Lee criticized these frontline police movements as "blindly following and extremely dangerous." Depending on the situation, large-scale disciplinary actions and legal responses may also be taken.

On the afternoon of the 25th, Yoon Hee-geun, the nominee for Commissioner General of the National Police Agency, is answering questions from reporters as he leaves work at the National Police Agency in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Candidate Yoon said to reporters on his way home the previous day, "There should be no more collective actions that cause concern to the public," and "I expect no further acts of expressing collective opinions." On the same day in the afternoon, the police leadership issued an official letter to each provincial police agency ordering obedience to superiors’ official duties and prohibiting collective actions. This was essentially a warning message targeting the nationwide field team leaders’ meeting.

Amid the spreading internal police opposition, the Cabinet meeting held at the Government Complex Seoul that day reviewed and approved the enforcement ordinance for the establishment of the Police Bureau. The revised organizational ordinance included the establishment of the Police Bureau within the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and an increase of 13 personnel, including 12 police officers and 1 general employee, necessary for this. The Police Bureau is tasked with ▲ recommending appointments for police officers at the rank of chief superintendent and above ▲ submitting agenda items to the National Police Commission and requesting reconsideration ▲ supporting the operation of the autonomous police system. Frontline police officers have opposed the establishment, arguing that such a Police Bureau undermines police independence and neutrality.

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