The National Police Agency announced on May 8 that it had held a "National Police Command Video Conference" ahead of the 21st presidential election.
At this meeting, chiefs of provincial police agencies and police stations from across the country attended to review key preparedness measures, including election security and safety plans, crackdowns on election-related crimes, and the establishment of public order. Starting from May 12, the official beginning of the election period, integrated election security situation rooms will operate 24 hours a day at all police stations nationwide, and on election day, the highest level of emergency duty (Level A) will be issued for all police officers across the country, implementing a phased emergency response.
To ensure the protection of candidates and the stable conduct of election campaigns, the police will mobilize a cumulative total of approximately 168,000 personnel at polling and counting stations to thoroughly prepare for any contingencies. In addition, all units?including the mobile unit, mobile patrol unit, and criminal investigation unit?will respond with maximum effort and conduct safety activities tailored to each situation. Furthermore, the police plan to investigate all types of election-related crimes fairly and strictly.
In particular, the police will strengthen crackdowns and intelligence gathering, and investigate not only perpetrators but also those behind the scenes, for the "five major election crimes" that seriously undermine election fairness: bribery, dissemination of false information, involvement of public officials in elections, election-related violence, and mobilization of illegal organizations. Election crimes involving deepfakes generated by generative artificial intelligence (AI), as well as cybercrimes targeting the National Election Commission or political parties, will be directly investigated by the cyber investigation units of the provincial police agencies.
Lee Hoyoung, Acting Commissioner of the National Police Agency, stated, "I ask you to do your utmost to ensure that this election is conducted more fairly and stably than any previous election through flawless security, protection, and strict enforcement of the law."
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