New police chief, test bed for organizational reorganization... From the aftereffects of martial law to the great turn of the investigation

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Han Ji-eun = As Kim Jong-cheol (56), Deputy Commissioner of the National Police Agency, was proposed as a candidate for the new Police Commissioner General on the 6th, attention is being paid to whether he will end the system of acting police chiefs that has continued for nearly two years since the December 3 emergency martial law.

After the prosecution's investigative rights were abolished following the implementation of the revised Criminal Procedure Act a month ago, the task of stably leading the police in charge of most investigations is piling up, while restoring public trust damaged by the controversy over poor investigations and resolving internal conflicts surrounding the local rotation system.

◇ Will the agency system come to an end after 23 months? Trust restoration task

The acting system for the National Police Agency began in December 2024 when then-Chief Commissioner Jo Ji-ho was arrested on charges of participating in martial law and suspended from office due to impeachment.

Following former Deputy Directors Lee Ho-young and Yoo Jae-seong, Deputy Director Kim Jong-cheol took on the third acting role last September.

This month marks the 23rd month that the official chief has been unable to perform his duties.

Once candidate Kim Jong-cheol completes the appointment process, including the National Assembly's personnel hearing, the system will move away from the long-term acting system and shift to a system in which the official director is responsible for the operation and reform of the organization.

The new chief's priority is to restore trust in the police.

During martial law, police forces were mobilized to block the National Assembly, and as controversy arose over the sloppy investigation of the Gwangju Jang Yoon-ki case and the false conclusion of the Jeju disappearance case, questions were raised about the lawful exercise of authority and basic investigative capabilities of the police.

When Candidate Kim took office as acting president last September, he set out measures to reform the disappearance investigation as his 'No. 1 instruction' and ordered the entire process from case registration to search, investigation, and closure to be inspected.

He visited Jeju as his first on-site visit after taking office and apologized to the bereaved family of the false closure of a missing persons report.

At the first national police command meeting, they pledged to "no trust, no trust," and promised, "If the public's trust is lost, the police will have no reason to exist. We will not stop at 'talking about it' but will definitely show change and action."

Afterwards, the police promoted the unification of criminal functions and the expansion of dedicated organizations for disappearance work, and launched the 'Public Participation and Field Companion Police Reform Group' to improve the overall organizational culture and work system.

We have also been carrying out renovation work to improve blind spots in management and supervision and inefficient work procedures by collecting opinions from the public and field police officers.

◇ The separation of investigation and prosecution made them ‘dinosaur police’… Securing expertise and independence

The stable establishment of police investigations following the reform of the criminal justice system is also an immediate task.

After the separation of investigation and prosecution on the 2nd of last month, the police took charge of most investigations, excluding those under the jurisdiction of the Serious Crimes Investigation Office and the Senior Public Officials Crime Investigation Office.

If a case is delayed or handled poorly at the police level, the burden can fall on the public.

The police has been working to improve investigative capabilities by reassigning riot squad personnel to investigation departments, training new investigators, and supplementing practical guidelines.

However, as it takes time for newly deployed personnel to acquire expertise, training and practical support must be continued, and conditions must be created for experienced investigators to remain in the field.

A dedicated management and support system is also in operation to respond to the Public Prosecution Office's requests for supplementary investigations.

Coordinating case handling procedures and jurisdiction with the Public Prosecution Office and the Central Investigations Office, as well as establishing a cooperation system to prevent the investigation from being delayed due to differences of opinion between agencies, are also aspects that the new director must take care of.

There is also a strong demand to have investigative independence and control mechanisms in line with expanded responsibilities.

The Police Investigation Reform Committee also recommended strengthening the independence and expertise of the National Investigation Headquarters and reorganizing manpower, budget, and training systems to accommodate the increased workload.

The new police commissioner must link these recommendations to specific organizational operations and system improvements.

The task remains to support the investigation without being swayed by external pressure while also clearly taking responsibility for investigation delays, human rights violations, and poor handling.

◇ Coordination of controversy over rotational personnel… We need to improve on-site morale along with reform.

Implementing demands for organizational reform and raising the morale of police officers in the field is also a test to gauge the leadership of the new police chief.

A representative issue is the expansion of rotational personnel.

In the wake of the Jang Yoon-ki incident, the government proposed a policy to expand personnel rotation to prevent regional collusion, but there was opposition from the field, saying that uniform transfers could reduce investigative expertise and increase the burden of housing, children's education, and long-distance commuting.

The National Police Workplace Council argued that exchanges should be expanded with a focus on responsible executives who exert more practical influence on investigations, personnel management, and inspection than general practitioners.

The Investigation Reform Committee decided to receive reports and review related measures first, reflecting on-site opinions.

Candidate Kim Jong-cheol also expressed his position during the government audit last month that he would not unilaterally pursue rotational personnel in a direction that the field does not agree with.

As the new commissioner, the purpose of the system, which is to prevent collusion, must be maintained while finding points of contact surrounding the scope of application, exception criteria, housing and transportation support, etc.

It is also important to strictly hold responsible for misconduct and poor response, but also communicate so that hard-working members do not feel that they are unilaterally shouldering the burden of reform.

Fair personnel and promotions, compensation commensurate with work, and improved working conditions must be supported.

Candidate Kim said, “Reassignment of personnel is repeated several times, and I feel like I am wringing out dry towels.” He said that his homework is to comfort the members of the organization.