Ministry of the Interior and Safety Audit, Police Director Kim Sun-ho to Address 'Informant Allegations'

Adoption of Witnesses for Innohoe Victims
Police Summon Professor Lee Soo-jung
Key Issues in Stalking Crime Response Direction

Kim Sun-ho, the first Police Bureau Director, and Lee Sang-min, Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (right) / Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy reporters Seongpil Jo and Sehee Jang] At the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s National Assembly audit scheduled for the 4th of next month, the 'informant suspicion' surrounding Police Director Kim Sun-ho’s past activities is expected to resurface as a major issue. Three days later, during the National Police Agency audit, questions regarding the response to stalking crimes, which have recently been reignited by the Sindang Station clerk murder case, are anticipated.

According to a compilation of reports on the 27th, the National Assembly’s Public Administration and Security Committee held a plenary session the day before and approved the summons of witnesses and reference persons for the upcoming Ministry of the Interior and Safety and National Police Agency audits. At the Ministry of the Interior and Safety audit, Min Kyung-woo, Executive Director of the Alternative Alliance, and Lee Sung-woo, a victim from the Incheon-Bucheon Democratic Workers’ Association (Innohoe), were listed as reference persons. They were reportedly selected to question Director Kim Sun-ho regarding the informant suspicions.

Director Kim has been suspected of having informed on his colleagues after being active in Innohoe, which he joined in 1988, and then being specially recruited as a security police officer. It is said that around the time Kim disappeared from the organization in 1989, police investigations into Innohoe intensified. A few months after the investigation, Kim was specially recruited as a sergeant and worked in the counterintelligence office, receiving several commendations. These suspicions were raised by some media outlets and opposition parties shortly after he was appointed as the inaugural Police Bureau Director at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.

Both ruling and opposition parties had previously summoned Director Kim during last month’s plenary session of the Public Administration and Security Committee to engage in a dispute over these suspicions. At that time, the opposition Democratic Party of Korea pressed Kim on his entry route into the police and urged Minister Lee Sang-min of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety to replace him. On the other hand, the ruling People Power Party defended Kim, citing that he was promoted to a senior police position after passing personnel screening at the Blue House during the Moon Jae-in administration. Sharp confrontations over Kim’s past activities are expected again in this audit. A committee official said, “This will be an opportunity to uncover the truth about Director Kim’s informant suspicions.”

Mayor Lee Kang-deok of Pohang and Chairman Choi Jung-woo of POSCO Group were also listed as witnesses for the Ministry of the Interior and Safety audit in relation to the response to Typhoon Hinnamnor. The People Power Party is expected to hold Chairman Choi accountable for the massive flooding damage at POSCO’s Pohang Steelworks caused by Typhoon Hinnamnor. Meanwhile, the Democratic Party is anticipated to raise accountability issues against Mayor Lee Kang-deok, who is affiliated with the People Power Party.

Suspect Jeon Juhwan in the 'Sindang Station Stalking Murder' case is being transferred from the Namdaemun Police Station detention center in Jung-gu, Seoul to the prosecution on the 21st. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

The National Police Agency audit on the 7th also appears to concentrate key issues in the list of reference persons. Professor Lee Soo-jung of the Department of Liberal Arts at Kyonggi University and others were selected as reference persons in relation to the Sindang Station clerk murder case that occurred on the 14th. Voices calling for accountability and measures to properly protect victims from the annually recurring stalking crimes are expected to pour in from both ruling and opposition parties. A committee official said, “Questions will be focused on the protection of crime victims’ personal safety and the police’s response direction to stalking crimes in relation to the Sindang Station case.”

Professor Park Hyung-sik of the Department of Police Administration at Joongbu University and Seo Hye-jung, head of the Child Abuse Victims’ Families Association, were also selected as reference persons for the National Police Agency audit. Professor Park was invited to diagnose problems with policies protecting crime victims’ personal safety, and Ms. Seo was called to review the operation of the public disclosure system for child sex offenders. Additionally, Kim Jae-hyun, CEO of Danggeun Market, was listed as a witness regarding the actual conditions of fraud in secondhand transactions.

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