National Police Agency Revokes 36 Honors Awarded to Park Cheowon and Others Over "He Just Died as Soon as He Was Hit" Case

National Police Agency: "We Apologize to Victims and Their Families, Reflecting on Past Mistakes"

The police have decided to revoke a large number of medals and honors that were previously awarded for involvement in past acts of torture and fabrication of espionage cases. Among those affected is Park Cheowon, who was Director of the Anti-Communist Investigation Division at the time of the 1987 case involving the torture and death of Seoul National University student Park Jongcheol.

The National Police Agency announced on July 21 that it has canceled 36 government commendations awarded to 20 individuals involved in past anti-communist incidents. This includes 15 orders of merit, 3 service medals, 12 Presidential Citations, and 6 Prime Minister's Citations. The police have faced criticism for not reviewing or retracting medals and honors given to perpetrators of state violence. Under the Honor Decoration Act, it was possible to cancel orders of merit and service medals, but there were no grounds to revoke Presidential or Prime Minister's Citations until relevant regulations were established in 2017.

At the memorial ceremony for martyr Park Jongcheol's 33rd anniversary held in January 2020 at the planned site for the Democracy and Human Rights Memorial Hall in Yongsan-gu, Seoul (formerly the Namyeong-dong Anti-Communist Investigation Office), attendees are singing the March for the Beloved. Photo by Jin-Hyung Kang

One of the most notable cases is that of Lee Geunan, a former police superintendent infamous for his role as a "torture technician" during the military regime. Lee had received 16 government decorations during his lifetime. Even after being convicted and imprisoned, only the Okjo Geunjeong Medal was rescinded, with the Prime Minister’s Citation he received in 1980 remaining until recently. The police had not even properly identified the existence of some of these honors. As for Park Cheowon, the former Director of the Anti-Communist Investigation Division, it was found that he received at least 13 publicly-known honors, including the Boguk (Patriotic) Order of Merit and the Geunjeong Order of Merit, as well as Presidential Citations.

Since March of this year, the National Police Agency began its first-ever comprehensive review of approximately 100,000 government commendations awarded since its founding. The purpose was to review the appropriateness of these honors, especially those related to unlawful acts by state authorities such as illegal detention and mistreatment, fabrication of espionage cases, and suppression of democratization movements. This cancellation marks the first result of that effort.

The list of revoked honors includes one Prime Minister's Citation awarded to Lee Geunan, two Presidential Citations and four awards, including the Hongjo Geunjeong Medal and Nokjo Geunjeong Medal, received by former Director Park. Also rescinded were four additional awards received by Kang Minchang, then head of the police (now equivalent to the Commissioner General), who made a false public statement at the time of the Park Jongcheol torture case, claiming that the cause of death was "He just died as soon as he was hit." These include the Boguk Order of Merit (Sam-il Medal and Cheon-su Medal), Hongjo Geunjeong Medal, and the Boguk Order of Merit Guksun Medal.

In addition, the police have requested that 51 ministerial commendations be revoked by relevant agencies, and are also reviewing the revocation of awards related to the unjust suppression of the May 18 Democratization Movement and the Samcheong Education Camp. An official from the National Police Agency stated, "We apologize to the victims and their families who suffered due to unlawful exercise of state authority in the past," and added, "We will continue to reflect on our past mistakes and strive to become a trusted police agency by upholding human rights protection and the rule of law as our core values."

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