"Daughter-like, so I'll buy you a meal"... 50s Police Officer Contacted a Female Civil Complainer in Her 20s

Complainant's Father Posts Online Community Message Publicly
Police Officer's 'Salary Reduction Disciplinary Action' Revealed Late

A police officer in his 50s was disciplined after asking a female civilian in her 20s for a private meeting, saying, "You remind me of my daughter, so I want to buy you a meal."

A, who has a daughter in her 20s, posted on the online community 'BobaeDream' on the 13th with the title, "My daughter went to the police station to find a lost item, and a police officer estimated to be in his 50s contacted her to eat and meet."

A's daughter had gone to Bucheon City, Gyeonggi Province, last October with a foreign friend visiting Korea. While they were out, the friend lost their phone, so they went to the local police substation. At that time, A's daughter left her personal information on behalf of her friend. Fortunately, the friend was able to recover the lost phone. However, shortly after, a police officer working at that substation personally contacted A's daughter, saying he wanted to treat her to a meal.

The police officer sent a text message to A's daughter saying, "Our hometown elementary school junior^^ We didn’t even get to introduce ourselves properly because you were busy. It was very nice and also surprising. Please guide your friend well and contact me anytime if you need help. If your friend is okay, I would like to treat you to a meal before departure. It was really nice to meet you."

In an interview with Channel A, A said, "A person estimated to be in his 50s (the police officer) wouldn’t have asked to meet a 23-year-old just because they were hungry," adding, "I felt very uncomfortable." A also claimed that the substation tried to smooth over the issue by coaxing them. He said, "He mentioned our hometown, said he was a junior from there, and that we all know each other through one connection. He tried to brush it off gently."

When A strongly protested, the Bucheon Police Station said they would thoroughly investigate, discipline the officer, and inform them of the results, but no further contact was made. Eventually, when A called the police station again, they said, "We cannot disclose anything due to personal information protection," which was different from their initial response.

A posted a message on an online community [Image source: captured from 'BobaeDream']

The police officer is known to have received a pay reduction as a disciplinary action related to this matter. During the police audit, the officer explained, "While talking with A’s daughter, I found out she was a junior from my hometown, and since her father's age is similar to mine, I offered to buy her lunch."

After learning about the situation through media reports, A said, "I feel complicated. It seems the officer is not very remorseful," and added, "I wasn’t planning to file a complaint for violation of the Personal Information Protection Act, but I am reconsidering."

Netizens reacted with outrage, saying things like, "Report this to the Police Agency’s Audit and Inspection Office, not the police station," "The world has gone crazy," and "Is a pay reduction even a punishment?" Under current law, public institutions such as the police are prohibited from using personal information collected during official duties for private purposes, and violations can result in criminal penalties.

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