New Phase in Appointment of Head of National Police Agency... Police Woo Jongsu and Choi Juwon Expected to Rise Rapidly

Jung Soon-shin Resigns Voluntarily Over Child's School Violence
Police Agency Focuses on Internal Selection

Attorney Jeong Soon-shin, who was appointed as the 2nd Chief of the National Police Agency’s Criminal Investigation Headquarters, has expressed his intention to voluntarily resign, bringing a new phase to the selection of the next chief. The National Police Agency is reportedly placing more emphasis on internal selection, as a public recruitment process was already conducted during Attorney Jeong’s appointment.

On the 25th, the National Police Agency announced that it is awaiting the decision of the Ministry of Personnel Management after Attorney Jeong expressed his resignation a day before his term was set to begin due to his child’s school violence issue. They added that they will take time to carefully consider the appointment of the next Chief of the Criminal Investigation Headquarters.

Inside and outside the police, it is expected that the National Police Agency will quickly begin the process of selecting the next chief, as the Presidential Office stated immediately after Attorney Jeong’s resignation that they would respect his decision and accept his resignation. Since the term of the previous Chief Nam Gu-jun ends on the same day, the position overseeing police investigations cannot be left vacant for long.

Following Attorney Jeong’s resignation, the National Police Agency has kept both options open regarding the next chief selection process: re-opening public recruitment or internal selection. However, since a public recruitment was already conducted once, the atmosphere seems to be leaning toward internal selection. It is analyzed that reappointing a chief through another public recruitment would take about a month, and leaving the head position vacant during this period would be burdensome. Furthermore, the fact that internal candidate selection had been consistently discussed within the agency since the previous appointment process adds credibility to this speculation.

Among internal police candidates, Woo Jong-su, Commissioner of the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency (Senior Superintendent General), and Choi Joo-won, Commissioner of the Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency (Superintendent General), have been continuously mentioned as potential next chiefs. Both boast long investigative careers and are considered 'investigation experts,' with extensive experience in policy formulation and overall management of investigations. Additionally, it is evaluated that they would integrate well with the police leadership, which includes many graduates from the Korean National Police University such as Commissioner Yoon Hee-geun.

Meanwhile, separate from the selection of the next chief, criticism is expected regarding the personnel screening system’s failure to properly filter out the school violence history of Attorney Jeong’s child. The Chief of the Criminal Investigation Headquarters is a high-ranking official appointed directly by the President, and the personnel screening involves not only the police but also the Presidential Office, Ministry of Justice, and National Intelligence Service. A National Police Agency official told this publication on the day, “We are unable to provide any response regarding the personnel screening.”

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