YouTuber: "Reporting to the Safety Report Center is a citizen's right"
Police: "We acknowledge our mistake, but some facts are inaccurate"
Police who received a report that a YouTuber was blocking a car arrived at the scene and are having a confrontation with YouTuber Jung Baewoo. Screenshot from YouTube Jung Baewoo
The police have responded point by point to a YouTuber's video claiming that an officer acted aggressively toward the person who reported an illegal parking incident in a disabled parking space, despite the report being made.
On December 12, the YouTube channel "Jung Baewoo" uploaded a video titled "Legendary Female Police Officer." The video alleges that, despite reporting a vehicle suspected of illegally parking in a disabled parking space for the public good, an officer from the Gwangjin Police Station in Seoul responded aggressively. As of December 19, the video had garnered 140,000 views, and hundreds of critical posts accusing the police of "threatening a public interest whistleblower" were uploaded to the Gwangjin Police Station's online bulletin board.
The police, however, have presented a different account. According to the police, four officers from the Jayang Police Box under the Gwangjin Police Station were dispatched to the scene at 4:33 p.m. that day after receiving a report from the vehicle owner claiming, "A YouTuber is filming and blocking my car, and I feel threatened." The police explained that the Jung Baewoo team approached a car in the disabled parking space without permission, filmed it while asserting a violation of the law, and did not check whether a disabled person was on board. In addition, three members of the Jung Baewoo team reportedly refused to show identification when requested by the police and made mocking remarks to a sergeant, such as, "I wouldn't be a police officer for that kind of money."
However, the video released by the Jung Baewoo team did not include this content. In the footage, when an officer says, "Who are you to be going around enforcing this?" Jung Baewoo responds, "Is it wrong for an ordinary citizen to report to the Safety Report Center?"
In response, the officer is heard saying, "Why are you submitting a report to the Safety Report Center? Depending on the situation, you could be punished for making a false report," and also asks, "Are you a criminal law expert?" and "If you're so smart, why don't you become a police officer yourself?"
Regarding the video, the Gwangjin Police Station stated, "We apologize for any discomfort caused by the officer's remarks, such as 'If you're so smart, why don't you become a police officer yourself?' We will implement measures to prevent a recurrence." However, the police also countered that the video was edited in a way that did not accurately reflect the actual events at the scene.
The police further explained that the vehicle in question was actually carrying a disabled person and was therefore not subject to a fine. They stated that the comments made were intended to prevent threatening behavior toward the disabled person, rather than to criticize the act of reporting itself.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
