[Editorial] As Police Investigative Power Grows, Internal Oversight Must Be Codified

With the revision of the Criminal Procedure Act concentrating investigative authority within the police, demands for fair investigations have grown, yet trust remains low. The number of recusal requests—filed when police are suspected of having conducted an unfair investigation or there are sufficient grounds to believe so—rose from 4,573 cases in 2021 to 5,307 last year. This year, the number is expected to surpass 6,000. According to a survey commissioned by Kukinews and conducted by Hangil Research on 1,000 adults aged 18 or older nationwide from August 1 to 3, the police’s trust rating was only 41.4%. Responses indicating “do not trust them” accounted for 55.2%, exceeding half and ranking even lower than the prosecution, which has lost its investigative authority. This result reflects various factors: perceptions that the police are vulnerable to power; suspicions of favoritism among colleagues, as seen in the Jang Yun-gi case; the possibility of collusion with complainants or suspects; and doubts regarding investigative competence.

Last month, the police conducted a comprehensive review and identified 117 cases involving police officers’ family members. However, over the past six years and six months—from 2020 to June 2026—there were only 77 recorded cases of voluntary recusals or avoidance within the police, and in 2023, there were none. The fact that a single review uncovered more cases than the total number of voluntary recusals over more than six years indicates that no systematic mechanism existed to detect and manage cases involving family members.

Since 2021 to June this year, there have been 169 cases in which police officers were sent to trial for leaking information or attempting to cover up cases by colluding with parties involved, whether complainants or suspects. The forms of misconduct varied, including receiving large sums in exchange for dropping charges, leaking investigative information in return for cash or favors, or accepting money after approaching suspects in investment fraud cases. Nearly half of these cases were uncovered as prosecutors re-examined or supplemented cases initially sent by the police. This demonstrates the critical importance of oversight over police investigations.

The police are now working to improve the system. From September, a “reciprocal avoidance system” will be implemented to prevent any local police station from directly investigating cases involving the spouse, parents, or children of its officers. A new Internal Affairs Investigation Unit will be established under the National Investigation Headquarters, and efforts to strengthen whistleblower policies are also underway. While these are steps in the right direction, the scope should extend to include all stakeholders, such as fellow officers, and standards for reporting, recusal, and case transfers must be clearly defined in law. Systemic alternatives are also needed to establish which body will identify and uncover missing evidence or potential collusion during police investigations, and how they will do so.

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