 |
| Ulsan Jungbu Police Station Senior Superintendent Ryu Sam-young, center, leaves the Police Human Resources Development Institute in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, after holding a meeting of high-ranking police officials nationwide, Saturday. Two hours after the meeting, Ryu was suspended from his job. Yonhap |
By Nam Hyun-woo
Rival parties traded salvoes on Sunday over a police superintendent in Ulsan who was suspended from his job after spearheading a meeting of high-ranking police officials nationwide to protest the government's plan to set up a supervisory bureau to oversee the nation's police forces under the direct control of the interior ministry.
Rep. Woo Sang-ho, interim chief of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), voiced worries about the interior ministry's plan to put the police under its direct control, saying that is what a "military junta would do."
"Let me ask those who are saying that because there's a supervisory bureau for the prosecution in the justice ministry, there could be a supervisory bureau for the police in the interior ministry," Woo said during a press conference.
"If that's the case, and there can be meetings of public prosecutors and of the nation's chief prosecutors, then why can't there be a meeting of the nation's police chiefs? I strongly doubt this matter needs to be dealt with by suspension, and this is not a problem that can be addressed by silencing the police," he said.
 |
| Democratic Party of Korea interim chief Rep. Woo Sang-ho speaks during a press conference at the National Assembly on Yeouido, Seoul, Sunday. Joint Press Corps |
On Saturday night, the National Police Agency suspended Ulsan Jungbu Police Station Senior Superintendent Ryu Sam-young from his job just two hours after the meeting of police officials nationwide was held in Asan, South Chungcheong Province. Ryu was the first senior superintendent-level police official to propose the meeting.
Fifty-six senior police superintendents from across the country attended the meeting, while another 133 high-ranking police officials joined online and 356 sent flower wreaths to the meeting to support its statement that "setting up a supervisory bureau for the police in the interior ministry is a regression" and "time is required to reach a social consensus over the plan."
Police officials have been refusing the interior ministry's plan to set up the supervisory bureau overseeing personnel and policy decisions, saying it will give the government direct control over the police.
President Yoon Suk-yeol's new National Police Agency Commissioner General nominee Yoon Hee-keun has sent an email to superintendents across the country and asked them not to join the meeting, and launched inspections of 56 police officials who attended the meeting.
"The Yoon government no longer has the qualifications to speak of fairness or common sense," DPK Rep. Oh Yeong-hwan wrote on Facebook. "Can a police officer's will to become a police officer to protect people's lives and safety be a reason for punishment?"
On the other hand, the ruling People Power Party slammed the police officials.
"Regardless of what the reasons may be, the ranking officials' collective action is very inappropriate," said PPP Rep. Lee Che-ik, who chairs the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee. "Despite the chain of command, the officials disobeyed orders from superiors, and this is a clear violation of their code of conduct."
PPP Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon also wrote on Facebook, "The previous Moon Jae-in administration gave police the strongest investigative authority through unprecedented law revisions stripping prosecutors of their investigative powers," adding that "the government will take charge of curbing the abuse of power by the police which is rapidly becoming over-sized."
![[INTERVIEW] Virtual K-pop group MAVE: is more than just pretty pixels](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/bcc387606cf7451c94f51a5978960c9f.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
