Tag: KNPA

Below is some more background information on the police chief protest that continues to be a major issue in Korea right now. Basically these police chiefs are unhappy about reforms to the National Police University and receiving government oversight after reforms from the last administration gave them more investigative powers from prosecutors:

 Interior Minister Lee Sang-min on Tuesday hinted at overhauling the police personnel system that favors graduates of the national police university, amid backlash from front-line police officers over the planned establishment of a police bureau under the ministry.

“It is unfair to automatically begin a career as a lieutenant, just based on graduating from Korea National Police University,” Lee told reporters before giving a policy briefing to President Yoon Suk-yeol at the presidential office.

A graduate of the four-year university is awarded the rank of a lieutenant, which is equivalent to the chief of a police precinct or the team leader at a police station. It takes at least 17 years of continuous service for an entry-level officer who did not graduate from the school to reach such rank.  (……..)

About 50 senior superintendents across the nation held a meeting Saturday to protest the plan, despite government warnings to desist, with some 140 others attending online. The minister likened the collective action to a “coup.” 

Police officers taking part in the action have expressed concern the bureau’s oversight would compromise their political neutrality and accountability, while the interior ministry has argued it is necessary, as the police are set to take on more investigative roles from the prosecution.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The KNPA director was highly criticized by President Yoon after he approved a personnel reshuffle without running it by the President for approval. The KNPA director is a hold over from the prior Moon administration so he was probably going to get changed out anyway:

National Police Agency Commissioner General Kim Chang-yong offered to resign Monday, days after President Yoon Suk-yeol strongly chastised police over a recent personnel reshuffle flip-flopping.

Police released the names of new senior superintendents general a week earlier, only to reverse seven of the selections two hours later. Yoon rebuked police, calling the flip-flopping a “serious disturbance of national discipline.”

The resignation offer also came as police have protested the interior ministry’s plan to establish a “police bureau” to increase its control of the law enforcement agency set to take over greater investigative roles from the prosecution.

“I determined that resigning now would be the best way,” Kim said, offering an apology to the public and policemen for “failing” to safeguard the neutrality and independence of police.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This photo shows new summer uniforms for South Korean policemen, who will sport them starting June 1, 2016. The new uniform is made of the latest materials and is focused on enhancing reliability and wearability, the National Policy Agency said May 29. The colors of the upper-wear are different for normal police and traffic police, with greenish navy for normal police and ivory white for traffic police. (Yonhap)