Police to Implement Rotational Assignments... Civilian Oversight Investigation Body to Be Established

Mandatory Reporting of Family-Related Cases
Directed by Local Police Departments

The police have apologized for the alleged cover-up in the Jang Yunki case, in which an unknown high school girl was murdered, and have announced countermeasures, including the introduction of a rotational personnel system to prevent recurrence. The purpose is to structurally block issues such as police officers leaking related information or destroying key evidence from happening again.

Yoo Jaesung, Acting Commissioner of the National Police Agency, delivered a public statement at the Government Seoul Office Building on the afternoon of July 16, stating, "We will swiftly implement the measures announced by the Minister of the Interior and Safety to eradicate internal corruption in police investigations and ensure democratic control," adding, "We will sincerely review any external control mechanisms imposed on future police investigations."

Yu Jaesung, Acting Commissioner of the National Police Agency (right), and Hong Seokgi, Chief of the National Investigation Bureau of the National Police Agency, are responding to questions related to measures to eradicate internal corruption in police investigations and democratic control at the Government Complex Seoul on the 16th. Photo by Yonhap News

First, in order to eliminate regional ties, the personnel system will be revamped, including the introduction of a rotational assignment system. If a person involved in a case is a spouse or direct relative of an officer working at the investigating agency, it will be mandatory to report this to the head of the agency and the command staff of the local police department. The local police department will then either directly investigate and direct the case or transfer it to another agency.

In addition, the National Police Commission will establish a dedicated human rights and inspection investigation body responsible for independent oversight and control of police investigations. This organization will be composed of civilians as the director and investigators, and will investigate violations of human rights, deficient or unfair investigations, and failure to act on requests for supplementary investigations. After the investigation by the bureau, the results will be finalized through deliberation and resolution by the Commission, which may then recommend disciplinary and personnel actions to the National Police Agency.

This body is modeled after those in countries such as the UK and Australia, but its introduction in Korea requires legislative amendments. The projected scale is around 100 members, although details on workforce composition and recruitment plans have not been decided. In response to questions about how it differs from previous measures, a National Police Agency official emphasized that being an external organization ensures objectivity.

Additionally, the agency proposed activating previously announced measures such as establishing an internal corruption investigation unit directly under the Chief of the National Investigation Headquarters and expanding the reward system for reporting internal corruption. On top of that, the legal professional police evaluation system will be expanded nationwide, and the current administrative audits by the Board of Audit and Inspection will be extended to cover misconduct such as the leakage of investigative information.

Amid the ongoing debate about whether to retain supplementary investigative rights as the abolition of the prosecution approaches, the plan is to allow the responsible prosecutor to request a change of the investigation team or agency if a fair investigation cannot be expected from future requests for supplementary investigation by the public prosecution office. When the statute of limitations is imminent, this target will be expanded to "all cases."

It is still uncertain whether these measures will be effective. Within the police, there is ongoing debate as to whether rotational assignment of more than 30,000 investigative officers can actually be implemented. Currently, the chief superintendent, who is appointed as the head of a local police station or as a section chief at a provincial police agency, is subject to a nationwide reassignment every year, and superintendents are reassigned every one to two years. Although there are differences by police agency, inspectors are usually reassigned every four to five years.

When asked about how the rotational assignment system will be operated, Acting Commissioner Yoo replied, "We are discussing ways to strengthen the personnel system, such as whether to differentiate according to the existing personnel cycle or depending on whether an inspector is a team leader or a staff officer."

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