Korean Federation of Public Officials' Unions and Police Officers' Association Delegation of 30 Members
Hold Press Conference Urging 'Stop Undermining Police Independence and Neutrality'
[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Gyumin] The Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) and the National Police Workplace Council (Police Council) stated that the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s (MOIS) recommendations for police system improvements “go against the trend of pursuing democratic policing.”
On the 28th at 11 a.m., a delegation of 30 members including representatives from the FKTU Public Officials Union and the Police Council held a press conference titled “Call to Stop the Violation of Police Independence and Neutrality” in front of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety at the Government Sejong Complex, expressing these views.
They said, “The plan to establish a police affairs organization within the MOIS under the pretext that the Minister of the Interior and Safety commands and supervises the police is no different from excluding the National Police Commission, a democratic control body guaranteed by the Police Act, and directly controlling the police under political power.”
They continued, “The Minister of the Interior and Safety cannot directly oversee public security affairs, and the National Police Commission already performs functions to deliberate and decide on major policies related to national police affairs and police work development based on the Police Act. Establishing a police support organization within the MOIS contradicts the purpose of guaranteeing police neutrality and exceeds the limits of delegated legislation.”
They also stated, “The MOIS’s plan to enact regulations concerning the command of the Commissioner General of the National Police Agency to establish a close approval and reporting collaboration system regarding the National Police Agency’s policies and personnel matters directly contradicts the Government Organization Act provision that ‘the organizational scope and other necessary matters of the National Police Agency shall be separately stipulated by law.’”
Finally, they asserted, “130,000 police officers nationwide are currently striving unwaveringly to become trusted police officers by the public. The MOIS’s unilateral control without public consensus goes against the trend of pursuing democratic policing, and the enactment and revision of subordinate laws that contradict the purpose of the law must be remembered as leading to the birth and direct control of a police force vulnerable to power.”
They demanded ▲ strengthening the status and role of the National Police Commission to realize democratic control ▲ implementing a dual local police system in line with the spirit of local autonomy and decentralization.
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