Prudence needed to revive conscripted police

The Yoon Suk Yeol administration is considering reviving conscripted police to help strengthen the police’s ability to deal with increasing crimes. Announcing the government’s countermeasures against random attacks on Wednesday, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo stressed the need to reintroduce the conscript police. After concerns arose about a further lack of human resources for the mandatory military service, the prime minister said the government is just trying to find a more efficient way to distribute manpower. National Police Agency Commissioner General Yoon Hee-keun suggested the size of police conscripts to be between 7,500 and 8,000 each year.

We can understand the urgent need for the police to augment their capabilities to prevent the growing number of random attacks these days. But the government needs to take a prudent approach in the reintroduction of the scrapped police conscript system, given the declining human resources from the ultralow birthrate. The conscripted police system was completely abolished in April, 41 years after it was adopted by the Chun Doo Hwan administration in 1982 to effectively control violent protests against the military regime.

It was in 2007 that the Roh Moo-hyun administration announced a plan to abolish the conscripted police — consisting of the riot police and the public safety police — as part of its national defense reform. The liberal government planned to gradually downsize the two conscripted police groups from 2008 and end the system by 2012. The government found fault in using human resources for the military for the purpose of maintaining public safety. The International Labor Organization (ILO) at the time pointed out that the arbitrary conversion constitutes an act of “forced labor,” strictly banned by the ILO.

In 2011, the National Human Rights Commission of the Lee Myung-bak administration also recommended the government repeal the conscripted police system, citing poor working conditions and human rights violations. Riot police disappeared in 2013, but the other group for public safety stayed. In 2016, the Park Geun-hye administration announced a plan to phase out the remaining group by 2023.

If the Yoon administration really wants to reintroduce the scrapped system, it must give convincing reasons. It also needs a process of canvassing public opinion. If the police wants to recruit personnel easily, that’s a serious mistake. The police must first address the structural imbalance of too many senior officers and too few junior ones that handle public security on the field. The people are entitled to receive quality security service from the police. The police must first ease citizens’ anxiety and the distrust in them instead of trying to find a quick fix.