Two named 'Police Heroes of the Year' after one died leaping onto the tracks to save a citizen and the other was killed while subduing a weapon-wielding suspect

[Financial News] A police officer who died while saving a citizen on the tracks as a train approached and another who died in the line of duty while subduing a suspect armed with a weapon have been named this year's Police Heroes.
The Korean National Police Agency announced on the 21st that it had selected the late Senior Police Officer Sim Yeon-su and the late Inspector Kim Seon-hyeon as the '2026 Police Heroes.'
Since 2017, the Korean National Police Agency has selected officers who exemplify the spirit of sacrifice and service as Police Heroes each year, honoring their contributions. This year, two officers who died in the line of duty protecting citizens' lives in different settings, 55 years apart, were named.
Senior Police Officer Sim joined the police force in 1948 and served in the Korean War. He later worked at places including the Mukho Branch Office of Gangneung Police Station.
At dawn on June 11, 1963, while patrolling the area around Mukho Station in Gangwon Province, Senior Police Officer Sim saw an intoxicated citizen walking along the tracks as a train was approaching. He warned the citizen of the danger, but when the person could not get off the tracks, he jumped in and pushed the citizen to safety. However, he was unable to avoid the train himself and died in the line of duty.
To honor Senior Police Officer Sim's sacrifice, the Korean National Police Agency installed a memorial at Mukho Station in 2019 and designated the surrounding area as a police pilgrimage route.
Inspector Kim was killed after responding to a 112 call on July 8, 2018, reporting a disturbance in Yeongyang County, North Gyeongsang Province. At the scene, as he was subduing a suspect charging at a fellow officer with a weapon, he was stabbed and taken to hospital, but ultimately died.
Inspector Kim's daughter, Police Officer Kim Seong-eun, has followed in her father's footsteps and serves as a police officer. She is said to have nurtured the same dream from childhood as she watched her father work as an officer. Officer Kim and her younger brother will attend the 81st Police Day ceremony and jointly receive their father's Police Hero Plaque.
A Korean National Police Agency official said, "The two heroes lived half a century apart, but the values they sought to protect were not different in the slightest," adding, "The police ethos of these two, who placed the lives and safety of the public above all else, shows what the duty of the police is—something that does not change even as times change."
The Korean National Police Agency plans to build a memorial sculpture honoring the two officers' contributions and hold an unveiling ceremony by the end of this year.
[email protected] Kim Ye-ji Reporter