After a video alleging that a police officer responded coercively to a YouTuber who reported an illegally parked car in a disabled parking space sparked controversy, the chief of the police station appealed, saying, "Please stop the witch hunt." The chief also asked for the video to be deleted, saying it was maliciously edited.
Park Jae-young, chief of the Seoul Gwangjin Police Station, wrote on the 20th on social media that "anyone can file a public-interest report," but also said, "There is a clear difference between objectively checking the facts and simply filing a report, and filming people recklessly with a camera and distributing the video." Park added, "That is because they are wrapping it in the public interest to reap their own gains."
The video Park pointed to was posted on the 12th on the YouTube channel "Jeongbaeu" under the title "Record-breaking female officer." The video shows a YouTuber reporting to the National Safety Report system a car suspected of illegally parking in a disabled parking space.
The contentious scene came later, showing a dispute between an officer who responded to another citizen's report and the YouTuber. In the video, a female officer told the YouTuber, "If you do it like this, you can be arrested for interfering with official duties," "Depending on the case, you can be punished for a false report," and "Either become a police officer yourself." The scene drew growing criticism of the police response.
Gwangjin Police Station offered an explanation. The police said they were dispatched not because of the YouTuber's report to the National Safety Report system, but because the YouTuber continued to threaten even a person with a disability who was eligible to use the disabled parking space. At the time, a woman in her 40s filed a report saying she was scared after the YouTuber blocked the car and filmed while she was moving her sister, who has a severe disability, from a wheelchair into the car.
Park said, "Editing that could make it seem as if the officer, who responded to a disabled person's report, was condoning illegal parking and obstructing a purely public-interest report is an act of self-harm that bruises the police, your asset, who are staying up all night changing residents' safety and their own health."
Park said he also urged the officer in the video to refine words and actions and received a pledge to try. He added, "As the police chief commanding the officer in question, I make a proposal to the YouTuber," saying, "If you felt uncomfortable with the officer's remarks, I sincerely apologize. And I hope you take the video down."
Park also pointed out that fellow officers disparaged the officer in the video on the anonymous workplace app Blind. He said, "Male colleagues who, just because the officer (in the video) is a woman, dismiss and belittle her out of hand — you should be ashamed and reflect."