Kwon Miye, Senior Superintendent, Referred to Central Disciplinary Committee for Misusing Emergency Vehicle for Commuting

The former chief of Seongdong Police Station in Seoul will be referred to the Central Disciplinary Committee for allegedly misusing an emergency vehicle for commuting, in an apparent attempt to circumvent the government-mandated vehicle rotation system for public institutions amid the Middle East crisis.

On June 24, the National Police Agency announced that an internal audit of former chief Kwon Miye confirmed that she had used an emergency electric vehicle, intended for urgent dispatches, dozens of times for commuting and other personal purposes. This was deemed a violation, as it involved the private use of a government vehicle, specifically to avoid the public institution vehicle rotation system implemented as part of a government-wide energy-saving initiative.

Seongdong Police Station, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

The Internal Audit Office explained that the vehicle in question had been designated for the police station's rapid response team, yet the chief used it for commuting and other personal transport. This resulted in a gap in the rapid response team's work capacity.

Given the seriousness of the matter, the National Police Agency had already placed former chief Kwon Miye on standby as of May 21. The violations uncovered in the audit will be referred to the Central Disciplinary Committee of the National Police Agency.

According to the police, former chief Kwon is suspected of using the rapid response team's emergency electric vehicle for commuting and other personal use from April 8, when the public institution vehicle rotation system came into effect, instead of using her official command vehicle. This vehicle is supposed to be reserved for urgent dispatches by the on-duty officer from 6 p.m. to 9 a.m. the next day. However, by using the electric vehicle, she exploited the fact that electric vehicles are exempt from the vehicle rotation system.

President Lee Jaemyung was briefed on former chief Kwon's misuse of the vehicle and ordered strict disciplinary action.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.