Possibility of Reinstating Auxiliary Police Just 3 Months After Complete Abolition... Controversy Over Effectiveness of Crime Prevention Measures

As violent crimes such as random knife attacks have recently increased, the government has launched efforts to reintroduce the ‘Mandatory Police Service’ as part of measures to strengthen public security.

On the morning of the 23rd, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo announced in a statement at the Seoul Government Complex titled ‘Prime Minister’s Statement to Prevent Recurrence of Crimes with Abnormal Motives’ that “we will actively consider reintroducing the Mandatory Police Service (Uigyeong) to significantly enhance crime prevention capabilities.” Police Commissioner Yoon Hee-geun, who was present at the meeting, also said, “We will discuss with the Ministry of National Defense and others the plan to sequentially select and operate about 7,500 to 8,000 personnel, including 3,500 experienced members for rapid response teams and 4,000 personnel to be deployed at key metropolitan bases.” He added, “We expect this to take about 7 to 8 months.” According to Commissioner Yoon’s remarks, the Mandatory Police Service is expected to be reinstated by the first half of next year.

◆ Considering Reintroduction Just 100 Days After Complete Abolition = The Uigyeong are personnel who assist police security duties instead of serving in the military during their mandatory military service period. They were established in 1982 when the Combat Police Act was amended, splitting the existing combat police into operational police and mandatory police. In 2013, with the abolition of the operational police, all duties previously performed by them were transferred to the Uigyeong. Subsequently, under the Moon Jae-in administration, the number of Uigyeong was reduced by 20% annually starting in 2018, and recruitment ended with the 1,142nd class enlisted on November 18, 2021. The last Uigyeong held a joint discharge ceremony on April 14 and were discharged on May 17, marking the end of the Uigyeong in history.

At the time of abolition, concerns arose within the police about a potential shortage of personnel to maintain public security. Although the police expanded the riot police system as a countermeasure to the abolition of the Uigyeong, in practice, one riot police officer had to perform the role of three Uigyeong, inevitably causing a security gap. Many young police officers were dispatched to the riot police, leading to a shortage of personnel working at local police stations and precincts. As this security gap became a reality, the government pulled out the ‘Uigyeong reintroduction’ card just over three months later. If the Uigyeong resume their roles in guarding government buildings, maintaining traffic order, crime prevention activities, and responding to demonstrations and protests, it is expected to relieve the long-standing shortage of police personnel.

◆ “One Option” vs. “Need for Practical Measures” = Opinions among experts are divided over the reintroduction of the Uigyeong. First, the possibility of expanding police personnel through the introduction of Uigyeong is seen as a positive aspect. Professor Kwak Dae-kyung of Dongguk University’s Department of Police Science said, “Considering the shortage of security personnel, if it is not possible to increase police officers in the short term, the Uigyeong can be one alternative,” adding, “The Uigyeong have a short training period, so they can be a way to quickly increase police personnel.” Professor Kim Jun-mo of Konkuk University’s Department of Public Administration also said, “Because police work requires many personnel, it is possible to discuss deploying Uigyeong to the field,” but added, “However, a comprehensive plan should be made, including reviewing the shortage of military manpower, which was the original reason for abolishing the Uigyeong.”

There are also opinions that the Uigyeong cannot be a fundamental solution to the current public security disorder. Professor Lee Yun-ho, Chair Professor at Korea Cyber University, pointed out, “Our police do not lack personnel but fail to operate efficiently,” adding, “There are many administrative staff and ranks are too subdivided, but increasing the number of police deployed in the field can solve the problem.” He further said, “The Uigyeong do not even have the authority to arrest suspects caught in the act, so it is hard to consider them as police personnel.” Professor Sung Tae-yoon of Yonsei University’s Department of Economics said, “There will inevitably be financial burdens for Uigyeong service, and it is preferable to use finances more effectively,” adding, “Rather than increasing personnel on a large scale, it is more reasonable to rearrange police personnel and organization to increase field police officers.”

The National Police Agency has begun consultations with the Ministry of National Defense regarding allocating some military service resources to the Uigyeong and expects the process to take about 7 to 9 months. If the police revive the Uigyeong, it is anticipated that hundreds of billions of won will be required annually. Over the past five years, the police have spent between 16.7 billion won (2022) and 116.3 billion won (2018) on maintaining the Uigyeong, depending on their scale.

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