Police back down on massive protest over the weekend

Politics

Published: 27 Jul. 2022, 18:13

Police back down on massive protest over the weekend

Interior Minister Lee Sang-min admits his comparison of a police gathering to a military coup may have been “excessive” at a parliamentary hearing at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, Wednesday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

A massive protest meeting of the 140,000-strong police force planned for Saturday was called off Wednesday just a day after it was announced.

A meeting of all police personnel to protest an oversight bureau being set up by the Interior Ministry was proposed by a senior police officer Tuesday — after the interior minister came down hard on a much smaller gathering of senior superintendents last weekend.

The police complain the oversight bureau will give the Ministry of the Interior and Safety control of them and erode their political independence.

Kim Seong-jong, superintendent of the Seoul Gwangjin Police Precinct, initially announced the gathering Tuesday on the police intranet. On Wednesday morning, he wrote another post saying the meeting had been voluntarily called off.

"With the establishment of the police bureau confirmed through the Cabinet's approval yesterday, the reality is that there is no societal solution," wrote Kim. "While expressing opinions in the name of the police may help to vent anger, it could become a social concern and burden, subjecting the entire police to societal criticism."

Interior Minister Lee Sang-min told reporters later Wednesday morning at the government complex in central Seoul that the canceling of the police meeting was "very fortunate."

He said, "Now is the time to work together with the 140,000-strong police to resolve all misunderstandings and conflicts and become a police that only looks out for the people."

The gestures on both sides appear to indicate a de-escalation of tensions between the Yoon Suk-yeol government and police.

Earlier this week, Minister Lee drew flak for comparing a gathering of some 190 police precinct chiefs last Saturday to Chun Doo Hwan's military coup d'état of Dec. 12, 1979.

However, Lee stepped back from the remarks and said in a parliamentary hearing Wednesday afternoon, "I humbly accept the criticism that the remarks of a coup were excessive."

On Tuesday, the Cabinet approved an enforcement decree to launch on Aug. 2 the new 16-member police oversight bureau, which will give the interior minister more direct control over the National Police Agency.

The National Police Agency became an independent organization in 1991 as part of efforts to ensure its autonomy and political neutrality.

Some police officers are still raising the possibility of holding a smaller gathering on Saturday.

Tensions between the Yoon administration and police may continue because the government has more police reforms in store.

Yoon and his People Power Party (PPP) have been opposed to police gaining more investigative authority through recently revised laws that will eventually abolish all prosecutorial investigative powers.

Ahead of a policy briefing to the president Tuesday, Lee hinted that his ministry could work on overhauling a system favoring graduates of the Korea National Police University for promotions. This could be another issue of contention for senior police officers who are often graduates of the police university.

Lee told reporters, "It is unfair to automatically begin as a lieutenant just because you graduated from the National Police University."

He noted that a small number of elite graduates of the university occupy most of the high-ranking positions in the force.

A graduate of the National Police University starts a career in the rank of lieutenant and can immediately be hired as police precinct chief or in other senior positions. It usually takes over 15 years for a police officer who is not a graduate be promoted to the rank of lieutenant.

A large number of the officers who attended the gathering last weekend would have been graduates of the university.

The four-year Korea National Police University was established in 1981 in Asan, South Chungcheong, to produce elite police officers and has a class size of around 100 students. The competition for entrance was 92 applications for every place last year.

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