Police chief in North Jeolla probed after holding art exhibition, selling paintings
Published: 13 Jan. 2026, 13:57
Updated: 13 Jan. 2026, 17:03
![Paintings hang at a cafe in North Jeolla during a solo exhibition by a local police chief. [JOONGANG ILBO]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/01/13/bf65dd35-7649-4449-a565-fbafedc6ba07.jpg)
Paintings hang at a cafe in North Jeolla during a solo exhibition by a local police chief. [JOONGANG ILBO]
A serving police chief in North Jeolla held a solo art exhibition and sold his paintings at a cafe in the officer’s jurisdiction without prior approval, prompting the Jeonbuk Provincial Police Agency to look into possible violations of rules barring public officials from profit-making activities.
The agency said on Tuesday that the chief of a local police station in North Jeolla, who holds the rank of senior superintendent, staged a solo exhibition at a neighborhood cafe for three months starting in December 2025. The show, scheduled to run through February, featured 37 paintings offered for sale.
Prices ranged from 70,000 won ($48) to 1.5 million won. Several works bore red stickers indicating they had been sold. Buyers either took the paintings immediately or agreed to collect them after the exhibition ended.
The police chief did not file a prior report or seek approval for outside employment before selling the paintings.
Under the State Public Officials Act and related service regulations, police officers are barred from engaging in profit-making activities. Even in exceptional cases, they must obtain advance approval. For officers at the superintendent level or higher, that authority rests with the commissioner general of the National Police Agency.
The controversy intensified after staff members at the police station sent congratulatory flower wreaths to the exhibition venue in the name of the department.
Critics, both inside and outside the police force, said the gesture raised concerns about misuse of official authority for personal benefit.
![Congratulatory flowers sent by police station staff to the exhibition venue in the department’s name. [JOONGANG ILBO]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/01/13/71e9b0c4-bd78-40e3-b5e1-cde1a84555bc.jpg)
Congratulatory flowers sent by police station staff to the exhibition venue in the department’s name. [JOONGANG ILBO]
As criticism mounted, the police chief said all sales — totaling about 10 million won — would be refunded or canceled and that the exhibition would continue without sales.
“This was my first exhibition as a private artist, and I wanted it to focus on the work itself," the police chief said in a phone interview with the JoongAng Ilbo. “The exhibition planner told me that selling works is common for first shows, and that is how the sales came about.”
The chief said that before the exhibition opened, internal departments at the station were consulted and advised that the event posed no clear problem because it was short-term and noncontinuous. On that basis, the chief said, no outside employment report was filed.
The chief also said that he "asked relevant departments inside the police station before the exhibition, and they told me there was no particular issue because it qualified as a short-term, noncontinuous cultural event. Based on that response, I did not file an outside employment report.”
The police chief said he had never received formal art training and was self-taught.
“In middle school, my art teacher encouraged me to apply to an art college, but I gave up after my father objected,” the police chief said. “I began painting again in September 2023.
“I worked on the artwork after work or on days off, and a professional planner handled preparations for the exhibition. As the head of a local police station, I take residents’ concerns seriously. I acted carelessly in some respects, and I will make sure this does not happen again."
An official from the Jeonbuk Provincial Police Agency's inspection division said the agency reported the case to police headquarters after reviewing the circumstances.
“Police headquarters will review whether the activity involved profit-making and whether it violated restrictions on outside employment before taking appropriate action," the official said.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KIM JUN-HEE [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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