[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] Regarding the National Police Agency's consideration of introducing medium-sized vans for police units next year, the agency stated on the 23rd that "the introduction has been pursued independently of the Presidential Office relocation." This came as a response to criticism suggesting that the budget for this long-awaited project was being secured by leveraging the Presidential Office move as an opportunity.
The National Police Agency released a clarification, stating, "The medium-sized vans are being introduced to shift the response approach towards equipment-centered operations, as the abolition of mandatory police service has significantly reduced the personnel size of police units, necessitating more efficient use of police resources." They denied suspicions that the budget for the medium-sized vans was inserted in connection with the Presidential Office relocation, explaining, "The introduction was pursued from the end of last year, before the Presidential Office relocation was confirmed." The agency added, "Medium-sized vans can be operated more effectively than police buses in Seoul's city center, where security situations such as demonstrations and protection duties frequently occur," and noted that the vehicles were introduced by benchmarking those operated by foreign police agencies.
Earlier, the Ministry of Economy and Finance's budget proposal for the National Police Agency next year included 2.7 billion KRW for the introduction of 26 medium-sized vans. This led some to suspect that the Presidential Office relocation had influenced the security budget. The previous Blue House had a main security zone extending 700 meters in all directions, but the Yongsan Presidential Office has a perimeter of 7 kilometers, significantly expanding the patrol area. In other words, there were suspicions that the National Police Agency inserted the budget under the pretext of enhanced security due to the Presidential Office relocation to more easily secure funding for this long-standing project.
Furthermore, reviewing the National Police Agency's mid- to long-term plan for new patrol car introductions, it is known that it specifies "2 billion KRW per medium-sized van, requiring 12 billion KRW annually for 60 vehicles." This raised additional suspicions that the figures might have been inflated in anticipation of budget cuts. The National Police Agency explained, "At the end of last year, when reviewing the mid-term business plan, the price of the medium-sized vans to be introduced was not clearly determined," adding, "When reviewing next year's budget proposal, the unit price of the medium-sized vans was clearly calculated, and considering the expenditure limits, the number of vehicles and required budget were adjusted to the current government budget proposal level (26 vehicles, 2.7 billion KRW)."
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