[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] Kim Chang-ryong, Commissioner General of the National Police Agency, abruptly tendered his resignation on the 27th. This voluntary resignation was decided less than a month before the end of his term.
The National Police Agency announced that Commissioner Kim had submitted his resignation on the morning of the same day. His term was originally set to expire on the 23rd of next month. It is reported that Kim resigned in protest against measures to control the police, such as the establishment of a police bureau within the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. Earlier, on the 16th, ahead of the announcement of the advisory committee's recommendations on police system improvements by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Kim posted a letter on the internal network stating, "The neutrality and independence of the police are immutable values," and added, "I will not cling to my position."
Kim's resignation also appears to take responsibility for the reversal of the police superintendent general personnel appointments on the 21st. On the afternoon of the day the advisory committee's recommendations were announced, the police announced the superintendent general appointments but reversed them after about two hours. During this process, seven personnel assignments were changed. The police explained at the time that it was a "mistake caused by insufficient communication with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Presidential Office," but the controversy deepened after it was revealed that the announcement was made before presidential approval. In response, President Yoon Seok-yeol strongly reprimanded the situation as a "disruption of national order."
Commissioner Kim plans to provide a detailed statement regarding his resignation after the press briefing by Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min, scheduled for 11 a.m. on the same day.
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