National Council of Police Workplace Associations: "Retired Police Officers Should Not Be Branded as Receiving 'Preferential Treatment for Former Officials' Merely for Joining Law Firms"

[Financial News] The National Council of Police Workplace Associations argued that retired police officers' employment at law firms should not automatically be defined as 'preferential treatment for former officials.' It said legitimate reemployment must be distinguished from the improper exercise of influence.
The council issued a statement on the 29th, saying, "It is difficult to agree that a retired police officer's employment at a law firm should be immediately defined as 'preferential treatment for former officials' based solely on that fact."
The council stressed that strict controls and accountability are necessary when retired police officers use their former positions or personal connections to exert improper influence over investigations, or become involved in work related to cases they handled and obtain private gains. However, it said that front-line officers, such as inspectors and senior inspectors who served for 20 to 30 years, should not be considered beneficiaries of preferential treatment for former officials simply because they use their experience and expertise to work as specialist advisers or expert staff at law firms or companies after retirement.
"The use of professional expertise and preferential treatment for former officials must be clearly distinguished," the council explained. "The core problem is using past positions and connections to influence case handling or converting that influence into financial gain."
The council also pointed out that the standard for determining whether someone received preferential treatment for former officials should be not where they were employed, but what they did. The intent was to block interference in investigations using former positions or connections, while avoiding a negative view of retired police officers who perform legitimate work by drawing on their experience and expertise unrelated to such conduct.
It further recommended that, rather than uniformly restricting retired police officers' reemployment, the system should evolve to support the legitimate reemployment and social participation of skilled professionals while strictly blocking conflicts of interest and the improper exercise of influence.
Concerns have recently been raised over so-called 'police former-official privilege' as more retired police officers take jobs at law firms. According to data that People Power Party lawmaker Seo Myeong-ok, a member of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee, obtained from the Korean National Police Agency, 224 of the 704 employment reviews conducted for retired police officers from 2021 through July involved employment at law firms, accounting for 31.8%. Of these, 156 reviews, or 69.6%, involved officers at the senior inspector or inspector level.
"Preferential treatment for former officials must be stopped. But the expertise built over a lifetime in the field must not be blocked," the council added. "We urge the creation of a social environment in which front-line police officers who have diligently completed their public service can confidently begin the next chapter of their lives based on the expertise they have accumulated."

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