Police, interior ministry on collision course

National Police Agency Commissioner General Kim Chang-yong closes his eyes during a press briefing at the agency's headquarters in Seoul's Seodaemun District on Monday where he announced his resignation. Yonhap

Police chief resigns to protest plan to establish supervisory bureau

By Ko Dong-hwan

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced Monday that it will set up a bureau to control the police, which are expected to surpass the prosecution in size and role once a set of prosecutorial reform measures go into effect.

In protest, National Police Agency (NPA) Commissioner General Kim Chang-yong offered to resign, claiming that the bureau will harm the neutrality and independence of the police agency.

The ministry's move has driven police officers nationwide to protest, saying it infringes on the country's Constitution that mandates the national police to remain politically neutral. The police fear that being managed by a central government body would tilt that balance in favor of the president, ignoring the need for independence from state or political influence, which the police have prided themselves on since they were detached from the interior ministry in 1991.

But the government said the police have become too big.

"The role of the police is related to the everyday lives of citizens as it is in charge of security, patrols, traffic, intelligence and investigations. Besides this, they virtually dominate the fields of crime investigation and intelligence, too," Interior and Safety Minister Lee Sang-min said during a press conference on Monday.

"For this reason, the general public is worried about the police that has outgrown its initial functions."

Lee said launching the department doesn't require introducing additional laws at the National Assembly, but can be carried out based on an existing ordinance. Lee cited a clause in the Government Organization Act that states the NPA shall be under the interior minister's control to oversee the country's administration of public safety.

Interior and Safety Minister Lee Sang-min points to a TV screen during a press briefing at the ministry's headquarters at Government Complex in Seoul, Monday, to explain his ministry's immediate plan to control the national police by launching a new department. Yonhap

The interior minister was critical of past governments which placed the national police agency directly under the control of the presidential office. He argued that instead, he should be able to control the police, which falls under his ministry.

Hours before the minister's news conference, the police commissioner offered to resign. In a press briefing at the NPA's headquarters in Seoul's Seodaemun District, the commissioner said his resignation is "the best thing I can do at this point." He also apologized to the public and fellow police officers for not coming up with an alternate plan.

Kim said the police succeeded in creating one of the safest countries in the world and have always prioritized neutrality and democracy to serve the public better. The interior ministry's move, however, will uproot those long-built foundations of the national police, according to the resigning police chief.

"We, the police, have steadfastly advised the interior ministry to listen to diverse opinions and engage in in-depth discussions before finalizing that move," Kim said. "I hereby let go of my title, but I wish that policies concerning the national police are debated over and improved."

Appointed as the 22nd chief of the NPA under the Moon Jae-in administration in 2020, Kim stepped down with only 26 days remaining until his tenure ends.

Police officers, in front of the Government Complex in Seoul, Monday, demand the interior ministry repeal a plan to introduce a new department to control the national police. The poster's title reads, "The Declaration of Police Independence." Yonhap

President Yoon Suk-yeol has yet to accept Kim's resignation as the president left Seoul for Spain on his first official foreign trip to attend the NATO summit.

Kim's resignation came after the NPA released to the media on June 21 a document containing a list of 28 senior officials up for promotion. But a second list was released just two hours later with seven officials from the first list subject to changed posts. Yoon, who didn't endorse the first list, called it "disruption of national discipline" and a "nonsensical mishap."

Part of Kim's resignation was to bear responsibility for that incident. But the resignation also reflects Kim's objection to the interior ministry's controversial plan to establish the new "department of police" to directly control the national police.

On June 21, an advisory group to the ministry announced a set of recommendations that included launching the department to rein in the national police as well as establishing committees inside the ministry to recommend candidates for senior police officers, including the commissioner general. The group also recommended that the interior minister be given the right to punish senior police officers.

The council of police officials, a union-like group for police officers nationwide, called on the ministry to repeal the plan.

"If they want to control the police, they could instead come up with more democratic ways like strengthening the existing national police committee or promoting NPA chiefs to a ministerial position to better secure the national police's investigative independence," said police officers who protested Monday in front of the Government Complex in Seoul where the interior ministry is based.