Woo Jong-soo, head of the National Investigation Agency overseeing the 12·3 emergency martial law investigation, retired on the 28th.
On this day, Deputy Minister Woo completed his two-year term without a separate retirement ceremony. In his farewell speech, he said, "While we have managed to stabilize the somewhat chaotic situation in the early stages of the investigation structure changes, it is not yet time to let our guard down," adding, "We must not stop our efforts to establish a more just, fair, and trusted investigative police presence."
Deputy Minister Woo highlighted his achievements, including the reallocation of over 1,000 investigative personnel to the frontline investigative departments, establishing a team leader-centered investigation system, creating criminal mobile units, and introducing special promotions for police officers. He added, "Even the media, which was critical, has started to acknowledge our police's changes and efforts," and "Investigators who had left are returning to the investigative departments."
He also noted, "It is true that my heart is heavy at this moment of departure," and stated, "I wanted to create better conditions and environments so that we could focus solely on investigations, but there are still unresolved tasks remaining. Please pedal a little harder."
After the 12·3 emergency martial law incident, Deputy Minister Woo took charge of the special investigative team for emergency martial law. Under his leadership, the special investigative team arrested and transferred then-Korean National Police Agency Chief Jo Ji-ho and then-Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Chief Kim Bong-sik, and led the operation to arrest President Yoon Suk-yeol. However, he also faced a search and seizure of his mobile phone by prosecutors related to allegations that he was involved in the key personnel arrest operations during the martial law.
With the retirement of Deputy Minister Woo, concerns have arisen that the police's investigative control tower may be lost, potentially disrupting ongoing emergency martial law investigations. The special investigative team is currently investigating former Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min, who is suspected of ordering media shutdowns and power cuts to obstruct the arrest of President Yoon.
With no appointments made for Deputy Minister Woo's successor, it is expected that Kim Byeong-chan, head of the Korean National Police Agency's investigation division, will temporarily take over the duties.
Deputy Minister Woo, a graduate of the 38th administrative examination, worked in the Ministry of Interior and Safety and the National Intelligence Service before being specially appointed as a police officer in 1999. Since then, he has served as chief of the Yongsan Police Station in Seoul, head of the investigation division of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, director of scientific police management at the Korean National Police Agency, chief of the North Gyeonggi Police Agency, and head of the criminal investigation department at the Korean National Police Agency.