Police Golf Course 'Green Fee 20,000 Won' with Trick Reservations... Deficit Burden Falls on the Public

Tax Funding Involved but 'High-Ranking Privilege' Controversy Arises
Blocking Unfair Reservations... Introduction of 'Cut-off Line System'
Annual Deficit of Hundreds of Millions Won... "Need to Raise Fees"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hee-jun] As controversies over unfairness surrounding the 'police golf course' continue, it has been confirmed that the National Police Agency has partially supplemented its operation system. A kind of 'reservation cut-off line' has been introduced, but there are calls for structural improvements such as raising usage fees in the long term.

According to the National Police Agency on the 28th, the agency currently operates two golf courses under the name of 'fitness centers' in Yongin City, Gyeonggi Province (286,214㎡) and Asan City, Chungnam Province (400,000㎡). Both golf courses have 9 holes each and are equipped with clubhouse and rest facilities. The usage fee is 20,000 KRW for active officers (regular members), which is about one-tenth of the weekend green fees at membership golf courses.

A view of the fitness center located within the Police Human Resources Development Institute in Asan-si, Chungnam. Photo by Yonhap News

Competition heats up due to low green fees

Due to such low usage fees, the police golf courses have consistently sparked various controversies. Recently, over 100 cases of 'preferential reservations for high-ranking officials' were revealed at the Asan golf course, leading to a prosecution raid. Active police officers unanimously point out that there are many problems not only with such preferential reservations but also with routine 'tricky bookings.'

Because of the low fees, even among active police officers, reservations for the police golf courses are extremely difficult. On weekends, hundreds of teams compete for about 33 to 37 time slots through a lottery. Additionally, the annual operating deficit of several hundred million won is fully compensated by taxpayers.

Reservations are conducted according to the National Police Agency's regulations. Basically, each member is allocated 25 points, and 1 point is deducted each time the golf course is used. The higher the combined points of the member and their companions (up to 4 people), the higher the chance of winning the lottery. The system is structured to give more opportunities to those with less usage experience.

"Book for me" - Drawing first, swapping later

The 'point system' was designed to provide fair opportunities, but loopholes exist. A member with a high remaining point balance who rarely plays golf can win the lottery under their name and then swap the actual users. Given this situation, it is common in the hierarchical police organization for superiors to force juniors to make 'proxy reservations,' according to frontline police officers.

Of course, there are regulations that impose a '12-month suspension of use' if reservations are traded or attempted under another person's name. However, unless the parties report it, there is practically no way to detect proxy reservations.

A police officer working at the Gyeonggi Nambu Police Agency said, "People who don't play golf sometimes make reservations on behalf of team leaders or section chiefs," adding, "Although we are police officers, it feels uncomfortable and uneasy to be forced to use such loopholes." He further criticized, "Since mostly senior officers enjoy golf, I question whether this is a universal welfare benefit or a facility for a select few."

Another police officer working at a police station in Suwon said, "Since it is not possible to increase the number of golf courses like military golf courses, raising the fees to a reasonable level might help regulate demand," and added, "Limiting the maximum number of uses per user annually could also be a method."

Reservation cut-off line introduced for golf course bookings

The left side shows the course map of the police fitness training center located in Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do, and the right side shows the one in Asan-si, Chungnam. Photo by Police Fitness Training Center

As loopholes in the reservation lottery repeated, the police devised their own countermeasure: the 'reservation cut-off line.' It was officially introduced from the end of July. Now, to receive a cancellation ticket or to change users after the lottery has been conducted, the combined points of the new users must exceed the minimum cut-off line as of the lottery date.

For example, if the cut-off line score for a specific winning date was 75 points combined for 4 people, the new users' points must also exceed 75 points to be able to use the golf course. The purpose is to prevent 'late entries' by those who have already used the golf course multiple times. Although the loophole of increasing lottery chances with perfect scores and then swapping users is still possible, the police explained that a margin was left to allow for fair cancellation ticket distribution or legitimate user changes.

A National Police Agency official said, "Since unfair reservations are made through loopholes (which are not illegal but difficult to sanction), it is challenging to detect all problems," and added, "We introduced the cut-off line to prevent the trick of swapping users after the lottery, and if new issues arise, we will respond with appropriate system improvements."

"Loopholes and deficits... the solution is raising usage fees"

There are calls to fundamentally resolve the unfairness occurring at the police golf courses by raising the 'low green fees.' The welfare purpose is undermined as excessive reservation competition is encouraged, and the deficits caused by rampant loopholes are covered by taxpayers.

According to the 2021 National Police Agency revenue and expenditure budget review report, the deficit scale of the police golf courses reaches several hundred million won annually. Before the domestic spread of COVID-19, deficits were 566 million KRW in 2017, 760 million KRW in 2018, and 740 million KRW in 2019. The golf course operating budget allocated in last year's budget was 3.193 billion KRW, a considerable amount. For comparison, the budget allocated this year for equipment to detect illegal relay devices used in voice phishing crimes is 1 billion KRW, and 2.1 billion KRW is set for supporting drug crime investigation activities.

The budget review report at the time also included recommendations to raise usage fees. It pointed out that benefits were concentrated on some users of the fitness centers, making it difficult to view it as universal police welfare. Raising fees to improve the deficit structure of the golf courses was suggested as an alternative. However, the fees remain unchanged.

A National Police Agency official said, "Since allowing public access from 2017, some fees were raised, but due to COVID-19 restrictions on active officers' use, the effects could not be verified," and added, "Now that normal operations have resumed, we will examine the effectiveness of fee changes and consider whether a long-term fee increase is necessary."

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