"High Promotion Rate for Female Police Officers"... Young Male Officers 'Boiling Over'

Seoul Police Female Officers' Overall Promotion Rate at 20%
40% of Promotions from Patrol Officer to Corporal at Police Stations Are Female
Young Male Officers Complain of 'Relative Deprivation'

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] Recently, dissatisfaction regarding "female police favoritism" has emerged among young male police officers in relation to special promotion personnel decisions. The main reason is that the proportion of female officers is relatively high in the special promotions from the ranks of patrol officer to corporal, which are mostly occupied by young police officers.

On the anonymous workplace community "Blind" on the 8th, an employee presumed to be a police officer posted a message titled "50% Female Police Rate in Seoul Police Agency Special Promotions." The employee wrote, "This is not intended to criticize female officers, but I think it is an organizational issue." The post received many critical comments such as "This is a bit much. Promotions are like a female quota system" and "Let's submit a commendation to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family."

[Photo by Blind Capture]

In fact, the proportion of female officers in the recent special promotions at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency does not reach 50%. According to the Seoul Police Agency, a total of 188 special promotions were recently decided. By rank, there were 97 from patrol officer to corporal, 61 from corporal to sergeant, 13 from sergeant to lieutenant, and 17 from lieutenant to captain, among which 39 (20.7%) were women. Considering that the overall proportion of female officers is around 15%, this is not significantly high. Among the promoted female officers, there was 1 from lieutenant to captain, 3 from sergeant to lieutenant, and 4 from corporal to sergeant.

However, among the special promotions for patrol officers to corporals, which include many young police officers, 31 out of 97 (31.5%) were women, showing a relatively high proportion. Especially when limited to special promotions from police stations where most employees work, 30 out of 69 (43.5%) were women. In this situation, young male officers seem to express a sense of "relative deprivation." A police officer in his 30s working in the metropolitan area said, "Although there is no female quota in promotions, looking at the results, the proportion of female officers is high," adding, "This is not a gender issue but a matter of fairness."