President Yoon Suk-yeol fumes over police appointments leak

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President Yoon Suk-yeol fumes over police appointments leak

A police officer holds a one-person rally in protest of the Interior Ministry’s plan to establish a police bureau tightening its grip over the police in front of the government complex in central Seoul Thursday. [YONHAP]

A police officer holds a one-person rally in protest of the Interior Ministry’s plan to establish a police bureau tightening its grip over the police in front of the government complex in central Seoul Thursday. [YONHAP]

President Yoon Suk-yeol said he was outraged over the police's premature announcement of a top-level reshuffle — which came before his own approval.  
 
Speaking to reporters at the Yongsan Presidential Office, Yoon said Thursday morning, "This could be considered a total lapse in state discipline or an absurd mistake that cannot be made by public officials."  
 
Around 7 p.m. Tuesday, the National Police Agency revealed the appointments of 28 senior superintendents general, only to change seven of the appointments two hours later. A senior superintendent general is the third-highest police rank after commissioner general and deputy commissioner.  
 
Such a retraction is unprecedented and came right before the Ministry of the Interior and Safety on Wednesday announced plans to create a new police bureau that would exercise more direct control over the police. This has been unpopular within the police, who are resisting the Interior Ministry's attempt to tighten its grip over the law enforcement agency for the first time in 31 years.  
 
The bungled announcement also came as Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min had returned to Korea from a business trip to Georgia.  
 
The National Police Agency initially explained that there hadn't been any change in appointment, but that the appointments announced had still been under review and revealed prematurely.  
 
The police agency and Interior Ministry differed in positions over why the appointments had been released to press prematurely. The police first claimed that it was the result of a mistake made by a lower-level official, saying the Interior Ministry sent a draft personnel list first and resent a final one later.  
 
On Wednesday, the police agency took a different line. "There was a problem in communication between the presidential office, Interior Ministry and the police," it said.  
 
Interior Minister Lee directly blamed the police for more than a mixup, saying, "The police made a public announcement before a presidential approval was issued."
 
The presidential office on Wednesday rejected allegations it is trying to "tame" the police.
 
Yoon told reporters Thursday, "The person with the authority to make personnel decisions is the president."
 
He said it was unacceptable that the police reshuffle, "which had not yet been approved by the president or reviewed by the Interior Ministry, was leaked and reported in the press."   
 
Yoon said that there had been no reversal in the appointments, and said that the version he approved was the one submitted to him by the Interior Ministry, indicating he is siding with the ministry.  
 
Some interpret his words as a warning to the police to fall in line. The Interior Ministry's plan to establish a police bureau will give it direct involvement in a wide range of areas such as recommending candidates for high-ranking police positions and demanding disciplinary measures for senior police officials, including the commissioner general.
 
When asked by a reporter whether the new police bureau will be a step backwards, Yoon replied, "Even prosecutors who require more neutrality and independence than the police have a prosecution division within the Ministry of Justice."  
 
He pointed out that in the past, a large number of police officers were directly controlled by the Blue House, and that he was delegating responsibility to the Interior Ministry.  
 
President Yoon Suk-yeol addresses the controversy over the police’s premature announcement of a reshuffling of high-ranking police officials, speaking to reporters at the presidential office in Yongsan, central Seoul, Thursday. [YONHAP]

President Yoon Suk-yeol addresses the controversy over the police’s premature announcement of a reshuffling of high-ranking police officials, speaking to reporters at the presidential office in Yongsan, central Seoul, Thursday. [YONHAP]


BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]
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