29 Police Officers Convicted for Leaking Investigation Information Over 4 Years

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] A total of 29 police officers have been prosecuted and convicted over the past four years for leaking investigation information.

According to a paper titled "Analysis of Police Officers' Security Leak Crimes and Policy Suggestions," published in the Korean Police Science Association Journal on the 23rd, 29 police officers were indicted for violating official secrets and the Personal Information Protection Act from June 2017 to May this year and were found guilty in the first trial.

Among them, 23 officers (79.3%) reportedly received bribes in exchange for providing investigation and crackdown information to operators of prostitution establishments, gambling house organizers, and others. Six officers (20.7%) leaked official secrets to private acquaintances such as family members and school friends.

The types of leaked information included 11 cases of investigation information including investigation progress, 10 cases of wanted person details, 6 cases of crackdown information, and one case each of unnatural death incidents and COVID-19 information.

Professor Lee argued, "The system should be improved to punish civilians who actively instigate or aid and abet public officials in leaking secrets on par with the public officials themselves."