Opposition Party Meets with Police Chief... "Yoon's Mention of National Order Disruption Is an Intent to Shift Blame"

Seo Young-kyo, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea who served as the Chairperson of the Public Administration and Security Committee in the first half of the 21st National Assembly, visited the National Police Agency in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul on the 23rd to condemn the Yoon Seok-yeol administration's control over the police and to urge the neutrality of the police. Photo by the National Assembly Press Corps

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] Former members of the Administrative Safety Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea recently visited the National Police Agency on the 23rd to meet with Police Commissioner Kim Chang-ryong and other leadership regarding the controversy over the reversal of the Police Superintendent General personnel appointments. They criticized President Yoon Seok-yeol’s remarks on his way to work, where he called the reversal a "disruption of national order," saying it seemed intended to "shift blame onto the police."

Democratic Party lawmakers Seo Young-kyo, Park Jae-ho, Baek Hye-ryun, Kim Min-cheol, Lim Ho-seon, Han Byung-do, Lee Hae-sik, Lee Hyung-seok, and Yang Ki-dae visited the National Police Agency in Migeun-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, in the morning to meet with Commissioner Kim and other leadership. They reportedly discussed countermeasures against the recommendations for police control from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s Police System Improvement Advisory Committee and urged a statement on the controversy over the reversal of the Police Superintendent General appointments. After the meeting, Representative Seo told reporters, "We urged the police leadership to become an institution that serves the people," adding, "In particular, if the living power has wrongful criminal allegations, investigations must be conducted, and we pointed out attempts to control and block such investigations." He continued, "We will also form a countermeasure committee or task force (TF) in the National Assembly to respond."

Representative Lee Hae-sik said, "The President called the reversal of the Police Superintendent General appointments, which happened about two hours after the announcement, a 'disruption of national order,' but according to our confirmation, something intervened during those two hours," adding, "It is important to clarify whether it was an unofficial power or a reformist power, and we will clearly reveal this in the upcoming TF."

Before the meeting, they told reporters, "Taking advantage of the situation where the National Assembly’s original organization has not been formed, the Yoon Seok-yeol administration is controlling police personnel rights and disciplining the police, which has caused serious public concern and internal police objections, calling it an unacceptable matter." They added, "We strongly object to attempts to control the police by violating the Government Organization Act and the Police Act," and said, "The Minister of the Interior and Safety must immediately stop such attempts and apologize to the public. If duties are exceeded and laws violated, responsibility will follow."

Representative Park said, "President Yoon called the reversal of the Police Superintendent General appointments a disruption of national order, but I don’t understand what exactly constitutes that," adding, "Since this happened under the current administration, if it occurred within his own government, he should honestly explain what system failure caused this to reassure the public." Representative Lim said, "The Minister of the Interior and Safety conducted interviews with Police Senior Superintendents without legal grounds and reversed the Police Superintendent General appointments within two hours, effectively nullifying the Police Commissioner’s recommendation rights and causing a personnel disaster," adding, "They even conducted personnel administration without allowing time for farewell ceremonies. Perhaps this was due to concerns about backlash against the advisory committee’s recommendations from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety."