As Police Investigative Powers Grow, Investigators Leave... "Jeongyeong-yeou" Shakes the Force

Among the 292 Police Officers Recruited as Lawyers, 84 Have Already Resigned

With the abolition of the prosecution service, the investigative authority and status of the police have increased, but core personnel with investigative expertise are leaving the organization. In particular, there has been a surge in demand for police officers who are qualified lawyers, especially from law firms and the legal sector, significantly raising their market value. This has even led to the coinage of the term "Jeongyeong-yeou" (special treatment for former police officers). To stem the outflow of such talent, the police are establishing measures such as a separate promotion evaluation process for officers with lawyer qualifications and extending the target years of transfer eligibility to city and provincial police agencies.

Yoo Jaesung, the acting Commissioner General of the National Police Agency, stated at a regular briefing on August 19, "Starting next year, we will conduct separate promotion evaluations for police officers with attorney qualifications, and from the second half of this year, we have developed improvement plans such as extending the transfer eligibility period to the main and local agencies by three years." He added, "We also plan to review further improvement measures along with a thorough examination of the investigation system."

Seodaemun-gu Police Agency, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim

According to the National Police Agency, as of last month, there were 292 police officers with career-based hiring who held attorney qualifications, and among them, 84 (28.8%) had resigned. While there are also many who acquire attorney qualifications while serving, the police are currently unable to keep track of these numbers, as there is no way to verify this unless the individual files a report. Of those who have reported to the National Police Agency that they obtained attorney qualifications while in service, the number is 96, but it remains unclear how many of them have resigned.

Acting Commissioner Yoo commented on the growing trend of former police officers joining law firms, noting that terms like "Jeongyeong-yeou" have emerged, and stated, "Under current law, police officers at the rank of sergeant and above are restricted from employment at designated organizations such as law firms for three years after retirement. Moreover, the approval rate for retired police officers who are not lawyers to be re-employed at law firms has been steadily decreasing every year."

However, he added, "Retired police officers who possess attorney qualifications are subject to the same restrictions under the Attorney-at-Law Act regarding the acceptance of cases as those from courts and prosecutors' offices. In order to prevent improper influence by retired police officers, we will further strengthen restrictions such as prohibiting case inquiries and private contact."

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