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Police oversight bureau dissolved in name of 'democratic oversight'

Published: 25 Aug. 2025, 19:10

The photo shows the police oversight bureau at the government complex in central Seoul on Aug. 25. [YONHAP]

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety will abolish its police oversight bureau on Tuesday, three years after the Yoon Suk Yeol administration revived the controversial body to oversee police leadership.

“The revised 'Presidential Decree on the Organization of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and Its Affiliates' [translated], which includes the dissolution of the bureau, will be promulgated and take effect Tuesday," the ministry said on Monday.

As a presidential decree, it passed the Cabinet on Monday, Aug. 18, and did not require a National Assembly vote.

The bureau, established under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration in August 2022, was tasked with supervising high-ranking police personnel and included three teams: general support for overseeing police-related policies and regulations, human resources and police support.

The ministry said it will remove the nameplate outside the office on Tuesday and all responsibilities previously handled by the bureau will be transferred to departments within the National Police Agency.

The ministry said it pushed for the dissolution based on a strong public consensus about the operational problems of the bureau and the need to abolish it.

It added that the decision came even though the Lee Jae Myung administration's organizational restructuring and policy agenda have yet to be finalized. The move fulfills a campaign pledge made by Lee.

The bureau was officially launched on Aug. 2, 2022, under the Yoon administration, as it cited growing concerns regarding the concentration of police authority following adjustments to investigative powers between the police and prosecutors.

A police logo [JOONGANG ILBO]

It argued that reviving the bureau after 31 years was necessary to ensure “democratic oversight of the police.” The removal of the presidential office’s Senior Presidential Secretary for Civil Affairs, who had previously overseen senior police appointments, also factored into the decision.

From its inception, however, the bureau faced controversy. Critics warned that giving the interior minister authority over personnel appointments for police officials ranked senior superintendent or higher could undermine police independence.

Opposition intensified when police station chiefs across the country convened in protest. Then-Interior Minister Lee Sang-min inflamed the situation by comparing the meeting to the Dec. 12 military coup — a coup d’état that took place on Dec. 12, 1979, when Maj. Gen. Chun Doo Hwan and his Hanahoe faction within the military seized control of the Korean Army by arresting the Army chief of staff without authorization.

Legal questions also arose. Critics argued that the “Government Organization Act does not allow for a police oversight bureau, so the ministry included it only in the presidential decree on its organization.”

Supporters countered that “the Interior Minister has the authority to direct and supervise police affairs, so the bureau can be created through the decree alone.”

The appointment of Kim Sun-ho as the chief of the bureau further unsettled the police.

Kim faced allegations of having acted as a spy for a labor activist group in his 20s. He was also promoted from senior superintendent general to deputy commissioner general, the second-highest rank in the police, only six months after his previous promotion.

“Since taking office, I have pushed quickly to complete the dissolution of the police affairs division in order to keep our promise to the public, which brings us one step closer to normalizing the police organization,” Interior Minister Yoon Ho-jung said. “We will continue working to guarantee police independence and strengthen democratic oversight while supporting the police so they can become a force that serves only the safety of citizens.”

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.
BY KIM MIN-WOOK [[email protected]]