Caring for Employees and Communication... Song Jeong-ae, the Third Female Police Superintendent General in History, Leadership

Song Jeong-ae, appointed as Police Commissioner on the 24th and promoted to Senior Superintendent General, Police Human Resources Planning Officer

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The National Police Agency selects outstanding cases from the weekly praise platform. They choose exemplary cases by function, including community safety, security, investigative planning, investigation, criminal affairs, cyber investigation, security investigation, and public order, and award commendations from the Commissioner General of the National Police Agency. The department in charge of selecting these outstanding cases is the Planning and Personnel Division. The weekly meetings serve as a 'communication forum.' It is said that opinions are expressed regardless of rank. Such a horizontal atmosphere is rare in the police organization, which has a vertical rank structure. This atmosphere was fostered by Song Jeong-ae, the Planning and Personnel Director of the National Police Agency.

Director Song was promoted to the rank of Commissioner General, the second-highest rank in the police hierarchy, on the 24th. Among the seven Commissioner Generals, five were replaced in this personnel reshuffle, and Song is the only woman to be named. Previously, Director Song attracted public attention last year when she became the third woman ever to be appointed as a director at the National Police Agency. The only women appointed as directors before her were Lee Geum-hyung, former Busan Metropolitan Police Agency Chief, and Lee Eun-jung, former Police University President.

Director Song joined the police in 1981 as a patrol officer, the lowest rank. With this promotion, she has passed through 10 of the 11 police ranks, excluding only the Commissioner General rank. Among female officers, only Lee Geum-hyung and Director Song have followed this path. Lee Eun-jung, who also reached the Commissioner General rank, was a special recruitment sergeant and did not go through the patrol officer and sergeant ranks.

Director Song is currently the most senior female officer. As of January this year, there are 18,464 female officers, accounting for less than 15% of the total police force of 140,000. Despite the invisible 'glass ceiling,' she rose to the rank of Senior Superintendent, known as the 'star of the police,' and was promoted to Commissioner General. Among the approximately 20,000 female officers, only two, including Director Song, hold the rank of Senior Superintendent or higher. The other is Senior Superintendent Kim Suk-jin, who serves as the Public Safety Department Head of the Gangwon Provincial Police Agency. This is why Director Song is regarded as the spiritual pillar and support for the 20,000 female officers.

Director Song's leadership is characterized by consideration and communication. A National Police Agency official said, "Director Song is a superior who tries to make things easier for her subordinates," adding, "She often thinks about how to reduce the burden on her subordinates." Her decision-making process is evaluated as open and rational. It is said that she spends most of the meeting time listening to her subordinates' opinions. The praise platform selection meeting is a representative example. The official stated, "All employees attending the meeting express diverse opinions and discuss together to make decisions."