[2023 National Audit] Police Chief: "Announcement of Reintroducing Conscripts Was Hasty... Not a Rash Administration"

Yoon Hee-geun, Commissioner of the National Police Agency, admitted that it was "hasty" to announce the revival of the Mandatory Police Service (Uigyeong) to respond to abnormal motive crimes, only to retract the decision a day later.

On the 12th, at the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee audit held at the National Police Agency in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, regarding the reintroduction of Uigyeong, Yoon responded to the criticism from Kang Byung-won, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, who said, "If you are going to talk about manpower resources, you should have consulted sufficiently with related ministries in advance," by saying, "There were many criticisms about that part, and I admit that it was somewhat hasty."

Yoon stated, "We were considering the reintroduction of Uigyeong as a police alternative, including organizational restructuring and manpower increase," and acknowledged, "It is true that we did not sufficiently coordinate opinions with the Ministry of National Defense and the Military Manpower Administration in advance."

He added, "When we conveyed the opinion to revive the Uigyeong system, the Ministry of National Defense and the Military Manpower Administration's position was that it is difficult at the moment due to issues such as the supply and demand of military manpower," but also said, "Regarding the Uigyeong system, while military personnel are of course important, we believe that public safety and security are equally important."

Furthermore, on the same day, Assemblyman Kang criticized the police organizational restructuring plan, which aims to reduce and consolidate internal departments and strengthen security duties, saying, "I heard that police officers did not receive professional consulting or gather opinions from the field. For an issue this significant, shouldn't such a process be necessary?" Assemblyman Lim Ho-seon of the Democratic Party also criticized, saying, "There are even remarks that this is a return to the days of the Security Headquarters." Lim also questioned the abolition of the Investigation Review Officer system, stating, "Now is precisely the time when investigation structure reform is needed, and there is strong public demand."

In response, Commissioner Yoon said, "Due to the nature of organizational restructuring, it is impossible to satisfy everyone’s opinions, and the direction was decided based on existing organizational diagnoses and databases," adding, "Before the full implementation after personnel changes in the first half of next year, we will sufficiently collect opinions to fill in the gaps and demonstrate strengthened field security without confusion."

When Democratic Party Assemblyman Oh Young-hwan asked, "Shouldn't you admit that the announcement of the Uigyeong reintroduction was hasty and apologize?" Commissioner Yoon drew a line, saying, "It is not a matter that requires an apology." Additionally, when Assemblyman Oh criticized, "Important police administrative policies were pushed forward in a herd-like manner following a single word from those in power, disregarding the police’s philosophy or direction," Commissioner Yoon rebutted, "I cannot agree with the claim that it was rushed and hastily carried out under unilateral orders in a short period."

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