Lee: ‘Must prevent gaps caused by lack of supplementary investigation powers ... establish a mechanism to review police investigations’

[Financial News] President Lee Jae Myung urged police on the 21st to “take all necessary measures without fail to prevent gaps arising from the lack of supplementary investigation powers or harm to the public.”
President Lee delivered an address on these points at the ceremony marking the 81st Police Day, held that day at the National Police Agency in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul. He said, “Please work closely with relevant agencies, including the Prosecution Office and the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency, and take all necessary measures without fail to prevent gaps arising from the lack of supplementary investigation powers or harm to the public.”
He stressed that “it is your role and responsibility, as people on the front lines, to ensure that the public’s concerns do not become reality.” On oversight measures accompanying the expansion of police powers, President Lee said, “The power to investigate belongs to the people, who have entrusted it to us,” and added, “We must prevent improper outside interference, while rigorously reviewing the investigation process and its results.” He called on police to “strengthen the substantive authority and role of the Korean National Police Committee and establish a mechanism for independently reviewing police investigations.” He also called for commitments to be fulfilled, including establishing a subcommittee on the safety of vulnerable groups within the Investigation Review Committee, so that the voices of people vulnerable to crime—including women, people with disabilities and children—are not overlooked.
President Lee stressed the need to restore public trust in the police. He said, “Please always be mindful that the misconduct of a small number of people and inadequate responses can undermine the trust and reputation of the entire organization,” adding, “As police powers have become weightier than ever, the responsibility has grown accordingly.”
He went on to say, “Public trust cannot be restored with words alone,” and urged police to “actively pursue reforms that boldly correct improper practices and systems.”
On relationship-based crimes such as stalking and indiscriminate crimes, he said, “We must make a major shift from responding after the fact to preventing them in advance.” He urged police to detect warning signs of crime early and, in missing-person cases, respond in a way that ensures they do not miss the golden window for action.
He called for rigorous investigations into rental-deposit fraud, investment fraud and the improper receipt of state subsidies, without being swayed by outside pressure or vested interests. President Lee said, “The powerful must not be allowed to evade the law, and the weak must not be treated unfairly,” and directed police to track down and recover illicit proceeds to the end and address institutional loopholes uncovered during investigations.
He also stressed the need to improve the public-safety system using artificial intelligence (AI). President Lee said, “We must continuously improve the entire public-safety system, from prevention to investigation,” and called for speeding up the development of an AI-powered next-generation 112 system.
President Lee urged police to “not stop at expanding their powers, but work to ensure that those powers are used properly and solely to protect the lives and fundamental rights of the public.”

[email protected] Seong Seok-woo Reporter