Rescuing an elderly person from flames, swimming 50 meters in torrential rain... 40 million won in rewards for 23 police officers

[Financial News] Police officers who protected people’s lives—including by rushing into a fire to rescue an elderly person and saving a citizen who had fallen into a lake during torrential rain—will receive special achievement awards.
The National Police Agency announced on the 26th that it had selected 23 officers who contributed to saving lives and expanding infrastructure for protective measures and would award them a total of 40 million won in special achievement bonuses.
Special achievement bonuses are rewards given to public servants who achieve outstanding results beyond the scope of their regular duties. This time, 14 million won was allocated for 5 cases in life-saving, and 26 million won for 7 cases involving the expansion of infrastructure for protective measures.
The life-saving category included cases in which officers saved citizens’ lives in emergencies such as fires and drowning incidents.
Senior Inspector Yoo Myeong-jae of the Gongsan Police Box at Naju Police Station in South Jeolla Province was spending a day off with his family on May 25 when he spotted a fire at a nearby detached house. As flames that had started in a storage building spread throughout the house, fanned by strong winds, Yoo began fighting the fire. Hearing a resident shout that someone was still inside, he rushed into the smoke- and heat-filled house. He then safely evacuated a woman in her 80s. Yoo will receive a reward of 3 million won.
Inspector Eom Tae-uk of the Seobu Police Substation at Chuncheon Police Station in Gangwon Province will receive a reward of 2 million won for rescuing a woman in her 50s from Uiam Lake during heavy rain on June 4. After receiving an urgent Code Zero dispatch reporting that someone had jumped from a bridge, Eom was the first to arrive at the scene and spotted the woman floating in the lake. Deciding that it would be difficult to wait for a rescue boat, he put on a life jacket, jumped into the water and swam about 50 meters before rescuing her.
Three officers, including Senior Police Officer Park Geon-ho of the Duam Police Box at Gwangju Bukbu Police Station, will also receive a reward of 3 million won in recognition of their life-saving efforts.
They were dispatched on July 11 in response to a report suggesting a possible suicide, but the caller asked them to leave. However, considering the report that the caller had recently lost a young child, as well as the caller’s anxious expression, they stayed at the scene. Later, after hearing a family member scream inside the house, they went back in and saved a man whose breathing had stopped by performing CPR.
The award recipients also included officers who established systems and facilities to protect intoxicated people and people with mental illnesses, in addition to carrying out rescues at the scene.
The Crime Prevention and Public Order Division and the Information Cooperation Division of the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency will receive a reward of 7 million won for establishing the first center for protecting intoxicated people in the Gyeongnam region last June in cooperation with local governments, fire services and medical institutions. They were also highly commended for laying the institutional foundation for a protection system by introducing an ordinance on protecting intoxicated people.
The Crime Prevention and Public Order Division of the South Chungcheong Provincial Police Agency was recognized for analyzing psychiatric emergency admissions, identifying people at high risk of self-harm or harming others due to repeated crises, and coordinating with local governments and medical institutions to connect them with long-term inpatient treatment. It will receive a reward of 5 million won, based in part on its achievement in securing 28 million won in related funding.
The National Police Agency plans to continue identifying front-line officers who contribute to protecting people’s lives and expand its reward programs, including commendations.
Acting National Police Agency Commissioner Kim Jong-cheol said, “The police’s most fundamental and highest-priority duty is always to protect people’s lives,” adding, “We will continue to be a police force that stands by the people, taking responsibility and serving to the very end.”


[email protected] Kim Ye-ji Reporter