Ruling Party and Government Discuss 'Jang Yoonki Police Investigation Failure'... "Rotation System Plan by First Half of Next Year"

The ruling party and the government have reached a consensus to prepare a plan by the first half of next year to introduce a rotation system in order to address the controversy over inadequate police investigations that arose following the Jang Yoonki case.

Assemblyman Lee Haesik, the ruling party secretary of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, met with reporters after a closed-door party-government meeting at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 23rd. He stated, "The root cause of the Jang Yoonki incident was collusion at the local level," adding, "There was a strong demand to firmly implement a rotation system in order to break such collusion."

(Gwangju=Yonhap News) Reporter Daum Jung stands in the photo line on the morning of May 14, 2026, at Gwangju Seobu Police Station before being sent to the prosecution on charges of murder and attempted murder. daum@yna.co.kr (End)

Assemblyman Lee explained, "It is indeed difficult in practice to implement the rotation system for ranks below inspector." He added, "Therefore, the police reported that they would gather opinions, including difficulties faced by officers, through a reform task force (TF), and would prepare a proposal by the first half of next year."

He continued, "In the Jang Yoonki incident, the person who leaked official secrets to Jang Yoonki's father was at the sergeant rank," adding, "There was a suggestion that, since sergeants are usually directly involved in investigations, rotation should be required at least for this rank as well."

He also said, "Currently, a single officer is typically assigned as the investigating officer, but there was an opinion that this should be changed to a dual system." He added, "There was a demand for a system where two officers are jointly assigned to each investigation."

Other topics discussed at the closed-door meeting included the establishment of an Internal Corruption Investigation Unit within the National Office of Investigation and the creation of investigative, human rights, and inspection bodies within the National Police Commission.

On this, Assemblyman Lee commented, "From the perspective of our lawmakers, there has been excessive protection of colleagues within the force, which could appear merely superficial to the public." He added, "The current level of oversight, such as the actualization of the National Police Commission and the autonomous police system, is still insufficient, so effective measures are urgently needed."

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