The Democratic Party of Korea launched a police reform task force on September 1 to address structural issues within the police, sparked by incidents such as the Jang Yoon-ki and Busan police chief cases. The party vowed to root out various malpractices, including favoritism.
During the inaugural meeting held at the National Assembly, party leader Kim Min-seok emphasized the importance of reflecting the public's demand for police reform.
In his opening remarks, Kim stated that the task force would comprehensively address six major issues: favoritism, case concealment, unauthorized case closures, evidence tampering, evidence manipulation, and leaks of investigative information, as well as violations of personal privacy.
He urged the task force to devise measures such as expanding external audits, strengthening grounds for disqualification in investigations, enhancing accountability to victims, increasing legal responsibility for inadequate investigations, and improving the protection of personal information and privacy. "There is absolutely no excess in preventing serious crimes," he stressed.
Co-chair Lee Hae-sik described the police as having been a tool of power that has oppressed the people, stating, "We have a duty to uproot the malpractices within the police and thoroughly rectify them. We will also discuss strengthening the investigative capabilities of the National Investigation Headquarters and the independence of audit and inspection bodies."
Another co-chair, Kim Nam-hee, remarked that as the ruling party, the Democratic Party has a responsibility to address the issues faced by the public, promising to find solutions to ensure that the police can protect the lives and safety of citizens.
Following the closed-door meeting, the task force expressed consensus on implementing police reform aimed at establishing a trustworthy investigative system and creating democratic oversight mechanisms.
After the meeting, Kim stated to reporters, "We discussed executing police reform with the goal of establishing a trustworthy investigative system and creating democratic oversight mechanisms. The government is also engaged in related discussions, and we will continue to have necessary discussions through party-government consultations."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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