Yun Ho-jung: “Kim Jong-chul is the right person to carry out criminal justice system reform and police reform”

[Financial News] Minister of the Interior and Safety Yun Ho-jung said on the 6th of Kim Jong-chul, the candidate for Commissioner General of the Korean National Police Agency, “He also has the broad perspective needed to carry out the tasks of our time: reforming the criminal justice system and the police.”
At a briefing that day at the Government Complex in Seoul on the recommendation of a candidate for Commissioner General, Minister Yun said, “I requested that an extraordinary meeting of the National Police Commission be convened, and the Commission approved the candidate for Commissioner General,” adding, “I intend to recommend the candidate for appointment in accordance with the procedures set out in the relevant laws and regulations.”
Minister Yun gave high marks to Kim’s field experience and organizational management skills.
He said, “Candidate Kim has gained broad experience in policy oversight—including not only frontline policing but also autonomous policing, personnel and intelligence—and is recognized both within and outside the organization for his outstanding planning skills and drive in carrying out his duties.” He went on to explain, “Based on his extensive experience and organizational management skills, I judged him to be the right person to faithfully carry out the police’s mission of protecting the lives, physical safety and property of the people, and maintaining public safety and order.”
Candidate Kim was born in Hamyang, South Gyeongsang Province, in 1970. He graduated from Myungshin High School in Jinju and the English Department of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. He joined the police in 1997 as a member of the 45th class of police executive officer candidates and served as chief of Sokcho Police Station in Gangwon Province, chief of Seocho Police Station in Seoul, and head of the Autonomous Police Division at the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency, among other posts.
In 2021, he worked at the State Affairs Situation Room in Cheong Wa Dae under the Moon Jae-in administration. He later served as head of the Public Safety Division at the Daegu and Daejeon police agencies, head of the Life Safety and Traffic Division at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, and head of the Public Safety Division at the Chungnam Provincial Police Agency, among other positions. He was appointed chief of the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency last September, then moved to the post of deputy commissioner of the Korean National Police Agency this September and has served as acting commissioner general.
If candidate Kim is formally appointed after a National Assembly confirmation hearing, he will become the first commissioner general since the Lee Jae-myung administration took office. The acting leadership arrangement, which has lasted about 1 year and 11 months since former Commissioner General Cho Ji-ho was suspended from duty in December 2024, will also come to an end. During that period, three people have served in turn as acting commissioner general: former deputy commissioners Lee Ho-young and Jaesung Yoo, followed by candidate Kim.
The Commissioner General is recommended by the Minister of the Interior and Safety with the consent of the National Police Commission, and appointed by the president after a National Assembly confirmation hearing. The president may appoint the candidate even if the hearing issues an unfavorable opinion. The term is two years. Once candidate Kim formally takes office, his main challenges are expected to include strengthening police investigative capabilities in line with the reform of the criminal justice system, stabilizing the organization and restoring public trust.
[email protected] Lee Bomi Reporter