National Assembly Adopts Confirmation Report for Police Chief Nominee Jo Ji-ho

Allegations of Illicit Gift to Second Son "Unavoidable Circumstances"
Denies Knowing About Special Treatment for Eldest Son's Military Service as Police Officer
Admits "My Fault" When Criticized for Spouse's Falsified Residence Registration

The National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee adopted the personnel hearing report on nominee Jo Ji-ho for Commissioner of the National Police Agency on the 30th.

George Ho, nominee for Commissioner of the National Police Agency, is speaking at the confirmation hearing held by the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee on the 29th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

The ruling and opposition parties held a personnel hearing on nominee Jo the previous day to verify his qualifications and morality. Mo Kyung-jong, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, stated, “An interest rate of 2% seems like a parental favor. The tax authorities' position is that financial transactions between family members can be considered gifts subject to taxation. We cannot ignore the issue of disguised gifting,” and demanded, “Submit documents equivalent to a tax investigation.” Regarding allegations of disguised gifting to his second son, nominee Jo explained, “There were unavoidable circumstances,” and added, “If I were to give gifts, I should give similarly to both my eldest and youngest sons.” He further explained, “My son got a job in the U.S. and saved about 100 million won to buy a luxury car, so my wife told him to buy an officetel. He contracted COVID-19 and was unable to return home, risking losing the deposit, so I lent him money and received 250,000 won in interest monthly.”

When Democratic Party member Yoon Geon-young asked about allegations of preferential treatment during his eldest son's military service, nominee Jo replied, “I did not know my son joined the police conscripted service,” and said, “He is not the kind of child who consults with me.” Jo’s eldest son served as a police conscript in the 1st Mobile Unit of the Gangwon Provincial Police Agency in December 2013. At that time, nominee Jo was serving as the head of the Gangwon Police Agency’s Public Safety Division. Yoon criticized that since the competition rate for police conscripts exceeded 20 to 1, making it popular enough to be called the ‘police conscript exam,’ it was a moral issue that the nominee’s son served in the same regional police agency where Jo worked. He also pointed out that although the eldest son joined the Mobile Unit, he was assigned to the headquarters company for administration, cooking, and driving duties. Jo responded, “Assignments are made based on the scores received at the Nonsan training center and personal preferences. Since he was not good at shooting, he failed the Gyeonggi Province assignment and was transferred to Gangwon Province,” and added, “My son did not go straight to the administrative headquarters upon arrival.”

When Democratic Party member Lee Kwang-hee pointed out the issue of his spouse’s false address registration, nominee Jo apologized, saying, “It was my fault.” Jo explained, “In 2014, the lease contract had not been terminated, and in 2015, this happened because my wife’s nephew entered university.” When Lee said, “This is a clear violation of current law, punishable by up to three years in prison or a fine of up to 30 million won,” Jo replied, “I am aware.” Lee criticized, “Nominee Jo is crossing the line of the law. We do not show leniency to criminals, do we?” Jo acknowledged, “I should be reprimanded for that.”

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