Park Hong-geun: "The Police Chief will obviously act as a mere rubber stamp like a screen... I will verify qualifications at the hearing"

Criticism of Police Bureau Establishment Emphasizing Candidate Vetting

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] Park Hong-geun, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, criticized, "It is obvious that the new Police Bureau Chief will exercise full authority next to Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min, while the Commissioner of the National Police Agency will stand like a screen and only act as a rubber stamp."

At the floor strategy meeting held at the National Assembly on the 2nd, Floor Leader Park stated, "The Yoon Seok-yeol administration forcibly launched the Police Bureau as of today. Just 37 days after unilaterally declaring the establishment of the Police Bureau, the history of the police has regressed 31 years."

He pointed out, "The Police Bureau, created solely for the Yoon administration, was established by suppressing the public’s concerns and the fierce opposition of frontline police officers. They hastily drafted an illegal enforcement decree with unjust intentions and procedures and moved swiftly according to a prearranged police control scenario."

He added, "Yoon Hee-geun, the nominee for Commissioner of the National Police Agency, is already nothing more than a figurehead commissioner. The nominee not only failed to gather internal opinions but also ordered disciplinary action against attendees and the standby transfer of Senior Superintendent Ryu Sam-young, who led the Senior Superintendent meeting."

He said, "The Democratic Party will rigorously verify the qualifications of nominee Yoon during the confirmation hearing. We will thoroughly examine whether he is suitable for police independence and scrutinize every incident that occurred during the establishment of the Police Bureau, including retaliation in police superintendent personnel and disciplinary cases."

Furthermore, he stated, "We hope the attempt to control the police, which goes against the times, will be stopped immediately, and that cooperation will be given to prepare democratic control measures for the police through the National Assembly’s Special Committee on Police Reform."