Police trust shaken by the "Jang Yoon-gi case" ... Acting Commissioner General Jaesung Yoo says, "We will reform with a sense of self-sacrifice"

[Financial News] As signs of poor investigation and evidence tampering emerged during the initial probe into the "Jang Yoon-gi case," public trust in the police has been shaken. In response, the police said they would overhaul the entire investigative process with a sense of self-sacrifice.
At a regular press briefing held on the 20th at the National Police Agency in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, Acting Commissioner General Jaesung Yoo said, "Ahead of the launch of the new criminal justice system, we will swiftly improve the entire system so that no more unfair victims arise in police investigations." He added, "Through this case, we will do our utmost to restore public trust by reforming police investigations across the board with a sense of self-sacrifice."
Earlier, the National Police Agency decided to launch a "task force for reform to enhance trust in police investigations" this month, led by an outside chair, to prevent similar cases from recurring. It also plans to establish an "internal corruption investigation unit" directly under the National Office of Investigation to thoroughly probe and strictly punish investigative misconduct and corrupt acts by police officers.
Yoo said, "The reform task force is at the stage of reviewing outside members, and we are considering a plan to have 7 to 10 members in total, with a majority of them being outside members." He added, "The internal corruption investigation unit is being considered as a body that will investigate serious crimes committed by National Police Agency officials in connection with their duties, regardless of rank."
The government also decided to fully introduce a rotational personnel system to eliminate ties between police officers and their hometowns. For cases involving a police officer's spouse or direct relatives, the government plans to apply self-reporting and recusal rules to block the so-called practice of protecting one's own. However, there is growing backlash within the police, with critics calling it a desk-bound policy that fails to adequately consider concerns over declining expertise, housing burdens and the system's effectiveness.
In response, Yoo said, "The rotational personnel system, which frontline officers feel places a heavy burden on them, can only be implemented if field opinions are fully collected and support measures for rotation are prepared as well." He added, "It would be problematic to carry out nationwide rotations for all ranks. We need to carefully review the scope, including rank and region, and find a reasonable compromise."
Yoo also drew a line, saying no final decision has been made yet regarding the rotational personnel system. "Various claims are spreading mainly through social networking service, but nothing has been decided yet, so they are not true," he said. "We will actively gather field opinions and do our best to restore public trust in the police while coming up with a reasonable plan that internal members can also support."
As debate continues over abolishing prosecutors' supplementary investigative powers in the wake of the Jang Yoon-gi case, the police also said that even if those powers are abolished, little would change from the current system.
Yoo said, "Requests for supplementary investigations are already being made, and most cases are being resolved through such requests." He added, "The police have thoroughly reviewed ways to make supplementary investigation requests effective on their own, and the proposed revision to the Criminal Procedure Act of the Republic of Korea also contains many measures to make those requests more substantive." He continued, "There are also matters that should be handled through investigative rules, so we plan to discuss them with the Prosecutors' Office going forward to ensure that supplementary investigation requests become more effective."
At present, four officials from the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency have been booked in connection with the Jang Yoon-gi case. A separate inspection is under way for Jang's father, a senior inspector with the surname Jang. The police said they will take follow-up action based on the special investigation team’s findings, as the inspection can only be completed once the investigation results are finalized.
Yoo emphasized, "I sincerely apologize to the victims, their bereaved families and the public for the poor investigation and signs of evidence tampering confirmed in the interim findings released earlier." He added, "The police will conduct a more thorough investigation, clearly establish the facts and promise to severely punish those responsible."
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