Editorials
How long will Korea leave its top police post vacant?
Despite a sweeping leadership reshuffle, Korea's national police is still without a permanent chief just as officers are set to gain broader investigative authority.
New National Police Agency Deputy Commissioner General Kim Jong-chul, who will serve as acting commissioner general, speaks to reporters about his plans at the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, on Sept. 2.
GYEONGNAM PROVINCIAL POLICE AGENCY/NEWS1
The government carried out a sweeping reshuffle of senior police officials late Monday night, replacing much of their leadership, including deputy commissioner generals and chiefs of provincial and metropolitan police agencies.
Fourteen of the 18 regional police chiefs were replaced as the government applied a policy barring senior officers from serving in areas with which they have personal ties. The shake-up appears aimed at overhauling the organization amid growing public distrust following botched investigations and misconduct, including the Gwangju schoolgirl murder and the false closure of missing person reports in Jeju.
Yet despite the late-night reshuffle, the police remain trapped in an abnormal leadership structure. The post of commissioner general, responsible for a force of some 140,000 officers, has effectively remained vacant for 21 months.
New Deputy Commissioner General Kim Jong-chul will serve as acting commissioner general. He is the third acting chief since then-Commissioner General Cho Ji-ho was suspended from duty over the Dec. 3, 2024, martial law crisis.
In just a month, revisions to the Criminal Procedure Act will take effect, effectively giving police exclusive investigative authority. Yet the command structure needed to exercise that enormous power and take responsibility for it remains incomplete.
Speculation abounds over why the vacancy has persisted. Some say the government has failed to find a candidate matching its political preferences. Others suggest it is buying time to install a favored figure. There is even talk that the government has tolerated this abnormal arrangement because an acting chief is easier to control than a commissioner general with a guaranteed term.
As police acquire sweeping investigative powers, their political independence is more important than ever. But with the top post vacant, police inevitably become more sensitive to those in power, while internal controls weaken.
Meaningful police reform is also difficult without leadership. The organization must root out chronic abuses, including protecting fellow officers, burying cases and concealing or manipulating evidence.
The police are a bulwark of public safety and security. The government must appoint a commissioner general capable of protecting the agency’s independence and strengthening its expertise as an investigative body.
The new chief must also restore public confidence damaged by repeated cases of botched investigations and false reporting, while imposing discipline on the organization at a time when its authority is expanding dramatically.
Political calculations should be put aside. Korea cannot continue indefinitely with an acting chief overseeing an increasingly powerful national police force. The government should end this abnormal leadership vacuum without further delay.
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.
