Seoul Police Chief: "Gapho Emergency to Be Issued on Election Day... Focus on Candidate Protection"

The police have launched a heightened response to strengthen safety measures, including the protection of presidential candidates, ahead of the 21st presidential election, which is now about two weeks away.

Park Hyunsu, Acting Commissioner of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, stated at a regular press briefing on the 19th, "Since entering an emergency duty system on the 10th, we have continued to maintain heightened vigilance," adding, "In particular, on election day, the highest level of emergency alert, known as 'Gapho Emergency,' will be issued." Gapho Emergency refers to the police's highest-level emergency duty system.

The police plan to focus on protecting the personal safety of the candidates during this election. To this end, a three-tiered police force will be exclusively deployed at campaign sites. The first tier, at the National Police Agency level, will consist of a dedicated presidential election security team assigned to closely protect the candidates. The second tier will be managed by local police stations, and the third tier will be made up of special election mobile units.

In addition, the police plan to mobilize special operations units, explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) teams, and detection dogs to prepare for threats such as sniping or explosives.

The command system has also been upgraded. Previously, the head of the local police station was responsible for command at large campaign sites, but going forward, a 'Security Countermeasures Committee' operated directly by the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency will take charge of command.

Meanwhile, the police have received and are investigating three online death threats against candidate Lee Jaemyung and one against candidate Lee Junseok. No death threats have been reported against candidate Kim Moonsu so far.

In two of the cases involving threats against candidate Lee Jaemyung, suspects have been identified. Acting Commissioner Park stated, "For suspects who posted death threats, we will conduct a rigorous investigation based on a zero-tolerance policy, including applying for arrest warrants."

A total of seven deepfake-related crimes connected to the presidential election have been reported. The police have requested the National Forensic Service to examine the videos to determine whether they are deepfakes and to check for possible violations of the Public Official Election Act. In addition, a total of 60 cases related to the five major election crimes have been reported so far, and 134 individuals are currently under investigation for election-related offenses.

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