Sangmin Lee: "Unfairness in Commissioning as Inspector after Graduating from Police University"... Next Task is Police University Reform

Details on Establishing Police Bureau and Improving Police System
Lee Sang-min: "Unfair Automatic Promotion to Lieutenant for Police University Graduates, Starting Line Must Be Equalized"
Police System Development Committee to Be Established in August, Plans for Police System Advancement
Freeze on Civil Servant Quotas and Reorganization of Over 3,200 Government and Local Government Committees

Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min is making a statement regarding last weekend's Chief Superintendent meeting at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 25th. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] Following the establishment of the Police Bureau next month, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) will push forward with reform efforts for the Korean National Police University (KNPU) as the next task. They also proposed a "carrot" policy that includes filling 20% of senior police positions with officers who started as patrol officers and improving police treatment.

On the 26th, MOIS reported the new government's work plan at the Yongsan Presidential Office. The report included detailed plans on the establishment of the Police Bureau, which passed the Cabinet meeting, and improvements to the police system. Reform of the KNPU was also mentioned as a major task. Minister Lee Sang-min explained that it is "unfair" that KNPU graduates are automatically commissioned as lieutenants immediately after graduation.

In a pre-briefing, Minister Lee said, "Starting ahead simply because one graduated from a specific university, making it impossible for those who start behind to catch up, is problematic. I believe that aligning the starting line is the starting point of a fair society. We will take a more cautious approach to how to resolve the KNPU issue by considering opinions from experts in various fields, the public, parliamentary discussions, and internal opinions from police members."

On the 23rd, a significant number of attendees at the police chiefs' meeting opposing the establishment of the Police Bureau were KNPU graduates. Minister Lee compared the police's collective action to the "Hanaehoe December 12 coup," targeting KNPU graduates with his remarks. MOIS plans to establish the Police System Development Committee, an advisory committee under the Prime Minister, next month, aiming to prepare fundamental development plans for the police system within six months, including distinguishing judicial and administrative police and improving the autonomous police system.

The Police Bureau, launching on the 2nd, will consist of three divisions: General Support, Personnel Support, and Autonomous Police. Except for the General Support Division, the other two will be led by officers at the Senior Superintendent level. Minister Lee said, "The Police Bureau will be headed by a Senior Superintendent, the Personnel Division will be staffed by experts in the field, and Senior Inspectors and Superintendents who have been involved in the relevant areas will also be appointed. We are preparing to implement the transfer of Senior Superintendents in early August, and the transfer of Senior Superintendents scheduled for the end of the year will be proposed by the Minister of the Interior and Safety. After completing the transfer of Senior Superintendents, we will review candidates for promotion."

In response to frontline police opposition to the establishment of the Police Bureau, a "carrot" policy was also proposed, including improving treatment and expanding senior positions for officers who started as patrol officers. In the police system improvement plan announced on the 15th, it was decided to raise the proportion of Senior Superintendent promotions from patrol officer backgrounds to over 20%. Over the past five years, 69% of Senior Superintendent promotions were KNPU graduates, while only 3.6% were from patrol officer backgrounds. A consultative body involving related ministries will also operate from August to raise police salaries to the level of public security officials. The police will strengthen personnel in economic and cyber teams and complete staffing adjustments following the transfer of military police cases. Minister Lee stated, "We will revise the police promotion evaluation criteria by October and immediately start operating a consultative body from August to raise salaries to the level of public security officials."

MOIS will freeze the number of public officials and significantly reorganize government and local government committees. Organizational diagnoses for each ministry will be conducted by September to identify areas for strengthening or downsizing functions. The integrated utilization personnel system will be introduced, reducing personnel in declining functional areas by 1% annually per ministry. The standard personnel for local government officials will also be frozen, and personnel that can be reduced within 1% of the quota will be identified and reallocated according to new demands. Minister Lee said, "We will boldly abolish inactive 'plant committees' and 'empty committees,' and plan to reorganize about 200 government committees, which is over 30%, and about 3,000 local government committees, which is about 30%."

To promote national tasks related to the local era, a provisional "Local Era Committee" will be established by integrating the Presidential Commission on Autonomy and Decentralization and the National Balanced Development Committee. To promote regional balanced development, a Local Extinction Response Fund of about 1 trillion KRW annually will be differentially supported through evaluations for regions with declining populations. Central government regulatory authority will be transferred to local governments, and special autonomous cities and provinces such as Sejong, Gangwon, and Jeju will see expanded special measures and support plans.

Disaster and safety management will also be strengthened. The support standard for housing restoration costs (16 million KRW) for disaster victims will be raised, and changes to the criteria for declaring special disaster zones will be pursued in consultation with related ministries. The introduction of disaster hope insurance, which is easy to subscribe to even for small restaurants under 100㎡, will also be considered.

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