Senior police officers pledge allegiance to the Korean flag during a meeting held at the National Police Agency in western Seoul on Sept. 3.NEWS1
The incoming leadership of the National Police Agency (NPA) issued a public apology Thursday and announced a sweeping overhaul over a string of recent misconduct that has shaken trust in the force.
“I want to begin my first address to the public by acknowledging our failures and offering a sincere apology,” Kim Jong-chul, acting NPA commissioner general, said during a leadership meeting held in western Seoul.
“Police have failed to fulfill their responsibilities in the recent Jang Yun-gi case and the mishandlingof missing persons case in Jeju.”
The Jang Yun-gi case involves allegations that the suspect's father — a police officer — tried to destroy evidence that his son had murdered a teenager in Gwangju. The Jeju cases involve missing-persons cases that an officer closed prematurely, only for several of the missing individuals to later be found dead.
“The public is asking whether they can truly trust the police,” Kim said. “We will not simply blame individual officers and leave it at that. We will thoroughly examine what went wrong, fix each problem and give the public the answers it deserves.”
Kim made clear that accountability for the recent failures would start with the police leadership.
Thursday’s meeting marked the first time the agency convened its new leadership before they formally take office. Among the attendees were Hong Seok-ki, new head of the National Office of Investigation, and the newly appointed chiefs of provincial and metropolitan police agencies nationwide.
Acting National Police Agency Commissioner General Kim Jong-chul, center, reads the Police Charter during a meeting of senior police officials at the National Police Agency in Seodaemun District, western Seoul, on Sept. 3.YONHAP
The meeting took place under the slogan, “The police have fallen short. We will confront our failures, pursue sweeping reforms and rebuild the force from the ground up.”
Before the meeting began, Kim read the Police Charter on behalf of the country’s police leadership. The charter, adopted when the NPA was established in 1991, lays out core policing principles about protecting lives and property, enforcing the law fairly and respecting human rights.
Kim seemingly invoked the charter to remind the force of its basic duties and reinforce the push for reflection and reform.
Kim also pledged to establish a dedicated unit for organizational reform. It is expected to conduct a ground-up review of the police organization, its systems, field operations and internal culture.
In response to concerns over the mishandling of missing persons cases on Jeju Island, acting police chief Kim ordered the police to establish a comprehensive response system covering reporting, decision-making in the chain of command, case closures and accountability. Officers would be held strictly accountable regardless of rank or position if any improper practices were found in missing persons cases.
Kim Jong-chul, acting commissioner general of the National Police Agency, center, salutes during a leadership meeting held in western Seoul on Sept. 3.NEWS1
The acting police chief promised to disclose facts even when they reflected poorly on the police and to root out a culture of minimizing or covering up cases to shield themselves.
President Lee Jae Myung on Thursday addressed the recent public outcry over police mishandling of various cases, noting the recent series of incidents reveals “significant loopholes” in the public safety system."
He urged the police to "use these events as a mirror for self-reflection and commit to internal reform and institutional improvements with a determination to undergo a painful transformation."
Lee stressed "there must not be even the slightest gap in public safety” due to police negligence.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
