Police unveil reform measures as the "Jang Yoon-gi case" sparks a trust crisis

[Financial News] As a series of allegations that emerged during the investigation into the "Jang Yoon-gi case" spread into a broader crisis of trust in the police organization, the police have announced a range of reform measures.
According to the police on the 12th, the National Police Agency will form a task force chaired by an outside expert and move to establish an internal corruption investigation unit to prevent similar cases from recurring. The move comes after controversy grew into a wider issue of trust in the police as the suspect's father is an active-duty police officer, and even members of the investigation team that handled the initial probe were implicated in allegations of evidence destruction.
The task force will officially be named the "Reform Task Force to Improve Trust in Police Investigations." To prepare stronger oversight measures for police investigations, the agency will appoint a respected outside figure as chair and fill more than half of the members with external experts. The task force will conduct a nationwide review of similar cases at police stations across the country and examine the overall police investigation system to draw up improvement measures aimed at restoring trust.
The agency will also create an internal corruption investigation unit directly under the head of the National Office of Investigation at headquarters. The unit will thoroughly investigate misconduct and corruption in police investigations nationwide and take firm action. Earlier, Hong Seok-gi, head of the National Office of Investigation, said of the Jang Yoon-gi case, "I have no words," adding, "We will thoroughly uncover everything through the investigation so that no doubts remain."
The police will also review and supplement the current system to ensure fairness and transparency when handling cases involving relatives of police officers. At present, the police operate the "private-contact control system" and the "case-inquiry ban system" as part of their anti-corruption measures. However, the case has raised criticism that existing internal control systems are not working properly in the field.
Accordingly, the National Police Agency plans to strictly enforce the related systems going forward and review additional measures to improve transparency in handling cases involving police officers' relatives by analyzing the problems identified in this case.
Still, some have questioned how effective these measures will be. Critics say there are practical limits to examining the organization as a whole, and that the measures could end up merely increasing the workload for frontline officers.
At the nationwide police leadership meeting on the 10th, Acting Commissioner Yoo stressed, "We will make up for procedural shortcomings and carefully design institutional improvements so that police investigations are conducted more thoroughly and fairly," adding, "The police will look only to the people and innovate police investigations so that we can restore public trust."
welcome@fnnews.com Jang Yu-ha Reporter