Democratic Party Launches Police Reform Promotion Team: "We Will Eradicate the Six Major Chronic Issues"

Six Major Chronic Issues Raised: Protectionism, Case Cover-Ups, and More

With the government and ruling party's prosecutorial reform set to transfer responsibility for the majority of cases to the police starting next month, the Democratic Party has launched the "Police Reform Promotion Team" to address mounting public distrust stemming from incidents such as the Jang Yoonki case and the false closure of the Jeju missing persons case.

Kim Minseok, leader of the Democratic Party, is speaking about the necessity of police reform in accordance with investigation rights adjustment at the first meeting of the Police Reform Promotion Team held at the National Assembly on the 1st. Photo by Yonhap News

At the first meeting of the Police Reform Promotion Team, held at the National Assembly on the 1st, Democratic Party leader Kim Minseok identified six major chronic issues: protectionism among police officers, case cover-ups, unauthorized case closures, evidence concealment and fabrication, leakage of investigative information, and privacy violations. He stressed that in order to eradicate these problems, various measures should be implemented, including expanding external audits, strengthening grounds for recusal from investigations, heightening the responsibility to explain processes to victims, increasing legal accountability for inadequate investigations, and enhancing personal data and privacy protection.

Kim Minseok further noted, "During my tenure as Prime Minister, I had urged the creation of police reform plans early on, but none of the proposed reforms proved satisfactory," adding, "I hope the Promotion Team will achieve results that truly satisfy the public."

Assemblyman Lee Haesik, who serves as co-head of the Promotion Team, stated, "Now that prosecutorial reform is being concluded, police reform is both inevitable and a vital task of our time." He announced the team would also discuss democratic oversight of the police, including the actualization of the National Police Commission, decentralization of police powers and reinforcement of community policing through local police systems, enhancement of both quantitative and qualitative investigative capabilities at the National Investigation Headquarters, and establishing the independence of audit and inspection organizations. Co-head Kim Namhee added, "We will form a system of communication and cooperation with the government and party to pursue practical solutions that work effectively in the field."

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