Five Deputy Commissioner Generals Replaced... New Competition Landscape for Next Police Commissioner General

(From left) Song Jeong-ae, Yoon Hee-geun, Woo Cheol-moon, Kim Kwang-ho, Park Ji-young [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The police promotion of the Senior Superintendent General rank conducted on the 24th signifies a complete reshuffling of the personnel landscape for the next Commissioner General of the National Police Agency. According to current law, the Commissioner General can only be appointed from among the seven Senior Superintendent Generals, but this promotion replaced as many as five of them at once. This is why there is talk inside and outside the police that this is a 'preparatory move' to narrow down the candidates for the next Commissioner General.

New Contenders for Commissioner General... Diverse Entry Paths and Regional Backgrounds

The five individuals named in the promotion list announced by the National Police Agency on the morning of the same day are Kim Kwang-ho, Chief of Ulsan Police Agency; Yoon Hee-geun, Director of the Security Bureau of the National Police Agency; Woo Cheol-moon, Investigation Planning Coordinator of the National Police Agency’s National Investigation Headquarters; Park Ji-young, Chief of Jeonnam Police Agency; and Song Jeong-ae, Planning Officer for Personnel Affairs of the National Police Agency. Looking at their profiles, it is evaluated that their entry paths and regional origins were balanced.

Chief Kim was born in Ulsan and entered the police force in 2004 through a special recruitment as a Superintendent after passing the 25th Administrative Examination. He has served as Public Relations Officer of Ulsan Police Agency and Spokesperson of the National Police Agency, and is noted for his strong communication skills. Director Woo is from Gimcheon, Gyeongbuk, and graduated from the Korean National Police University (7th class). As evidenced by his previous role as Head of Crime Prevention Policy at the National Police Agency, he is known as a 'policy expert' within the police.

Director Yoon is from Cheongju, Chungbuk. Like Director Woo, he graduated from the Korean National Police University (7th class). He has held positions such as Personnel Officer of the National Police Agency, Chief of Suseo Police Station in Seoul, and Head of the Information Management Department of Seoul Police Agency. He is regarded as a leading 'intelligence expert' within the police. Chief Park is from Haenam, Jeonnam, and was appointed through the 41st Executive Candidate Program. He has served as Director of Information Equipment Policy at the National Police Agency and Principal of the Central Police Academy.

The only female promotee, Planning Officer Song, started her career in 1981 as a patrol officer, the lowest rank in the police, and rose to the rank of Superintendent General, known as the 'star of the police,' in 2018. She previously served as Head of the Women and Youth Division at Chungnam Police Agency, Chief of Dangjin Police Station in Chungnam, and Chief of Daedeok Police Station in Daejeon.

(From left) Yoo Jin-gyu, Chief of Incheon Police Agency, Choi Seung-ryeol, Chief of Gyeonggi Nambu Police Agency
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Five out of Seven Replaced... Who Remains Among the Existing Senior Superintendent Generals?

The Senior Superintendent General is the rank directly below the Commissioner General of the National Police Agency. There are seven positions in total, including the Deputy Commissioner General, Head of the National Investigation Headquarters, President of the Police University, and Chiefs of the Seoul, Busan, Incheon, and Gyeonggi Nambu Police Agencies. The five promoted Senior Superintendent General positions have not yet been assigned. The National Police Agency plans to conduct personnel transfers after consulting with the city and provincial autonomous police committees. However, since National Investigation Headquarters Chief Nam Gu-joon has a term remaining until February next year, it is expected that five of the six positions excluding the National Investigation Headquarters Chief will be assigned to these individuals. The consultation process with the city and provincial autonomous police committees is expected to take about a week to ten days.

Once the assignments for the Senior Superintendent Generals are announced, many of the existing Senior Superintendent Generals will step down. If the existing Senior Superintendent Generals refuse the assignments, follow-up personnel actions such as standby assignments may occur, but typically they leave the police organization after the assignment announcements. Accordingly, there is also interest in who among the current six Senior Superintendent Generals, excluding the National Investigation Headquarters Chief whose term remains, will stay. Chief Choi Seung-ryeol of the Gyeonggi Nambu Police Agency is primarily mentioned as a likely candidate to remain, considering the continuity of investigations into major cases such as the Seongnam FC and corporate card scandals.

However, considering that the Commissioner General will be appointed in July, one Senior Superintendent General position may become vacant after July, leading to speculation that two of the current Senior Superintendent Generals might remain. While it is possible to leave the Senior Superintendent General position vacant and conduct a one-point personnel move, this is an unprecedented scenario. Inside and outside the police, there is talk that if two existing Senior Superintendent Generals remain, it will be Chief Choi and Yoo Jin-gyu, Chief of Incheon Police Agency.

Commissioner Kim Chang-ryong of the National Police Agency
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Change in the Competition Landscape for the First Commissioner General under the Yoon Administration... Who is Leading?

This personnel move is the first high-ranking police personnel appointment made 14 days after the launch of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration. It is considered unusual that the Senior Superintendent General appointments, who are candidates for Commissioner General, were made before the Commissioner General appointment. Until now, since Commissioner General Kim Chang-ryong’s term expires on July 23, with little time remaining, it was widely expected that the Senior Superintendent General appointments would be made after the new Commissioner General was appointed and his opinions were gathered. Accordingly, it was anticipated that one of the current seven Senior Superintendent Generals would be appointed as the next Commissioner General.

However, with this personnel move, the lineup of Senior Superintendent Generals has been newly established, and it is analyzed that changes in the selection of the next Commissioner General have become inevitable. Inside and outside the police, there is a forecast that Kim Kwang-ho, Chief of Ulsan Police Agency, is leading the competition to become the first Commissioner General under the Yoon Seok-yeol administration. The appointment of the next Commissioner General is expected to take place as early as the beginning to middle of next month.