The Korean National Police Agency said on the 26th it carried out personnel transfers for 472 superintendents.
Police officers who were sidelined after opposing the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's creation of a Police Bureau within the Ministry of the Interior and Safety have returned to key posts. Lee Eun-ae, head of the women and youth division at the Gyeonggi Northern Police Agency, is a prime example. Lee moved to the post of Director for Audit and Inspection, considered a core position within the Korean National Police Agency. Superintendent Lee was among those who became subject to personnel action after attending the nationwide meeting of police station chiefs (superintendent meeting) in July 2022 during the controversy over establishing the Police Bureau.
Nineteen of the 31 police station chiefs in Seoul were replaced. Kim San-ho, head of the national security investigation command division's public affairs at the Korean National Police Agency within the special investigative team on the emergency martial law, was reassigned as chief of the Jungbu Police Station in Seoul.
Lee Cheol-hee, commander of the 7th Mobile Unit at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, was appointed chief of the Jongno Police Station; Joo Seung-eun, head of the youth protection division at the Korean National Police Agency, chief of the Gangnam Police Station; Joo Jin-hwa, head of the cyberterror response division at the Korean National Police Agency, chief of the Seocho Police Station; Lee Jun-ho, team leader at the 112 Integrated Situation Room of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, chief of the Mapo Police Station; and Kim Cheol-su, situation team leader at the Korean National Police Agency, chief of the Yeongdeungpo Police Station.
Kim Wan-gi, chief of the Mapo Police Station, who faced allegations of having made statements sympathetic to insurrection during the Dec. 3 emergency martial law, was transferred to Director for Public Relations at the Jeju Provincial Police Agency. Superintendent Kim has flatly denied the allegations and has filed a defamation complaint against attorney Kim Gyu-hyeon, who raised the claims.