A survey found that more than 90% of police officers have a negative view of expanding rotational assignments, which are being pursued to block local collusion by police.
The Joint Struggle Committee for Improving Police Working Conditions, including opposition to forced rotational assignments (the committee), under the Police Workplace Council, which serves as the police union, announced on the 20th the results of a survey on forced rotational assignments nationwide and the status of inspections. The survey was conducted from the 13th to the 19th on 6,063 police officers across the country.
In response to a question asking for views on the policy to expand rotational assignments, which the government has recently discussed and pursued as a measure to improve the police organization, 86.8% of the police officers who took part in the survey said they were "very negative." The share who said "generally negative" was 9.7%. Only 1.6% expressed a "positive (generally + very)" view.
If rotational assignments are expanded, the most worrisome issue (multiple responses) was "longer commutes and changes in living areas," cited by 76.6% of police officers. That was followed by ▲ difficulty balancing work and family, 46.6% ▲ reduced trust in the organization and lower motivation to work, 38.7% ▲ insufficient understanding of local geography and resident characteristics, 37.5%.
Asked whether they think procedural legitimacy—such as reflecting preferred postings and collecting opinions in advance—will be sufficiently ensured after expanding rotational assignments, 83% of police officers answered "not at all."
A total of 92.1% of police officers also said that expanding rotational assignments for investigative units or wholesale replacement of long-serving staff would negatively affect (somewhat + very) the quality of investigations. They cited ▲ diminished expertise, 24.8% ▲ difficulty maintaining prosecutions, 21.6% ▲ worsening reluctance to work in investigative units, 21.4% ▲ delays in case handling, 19.9%.
Many police officers also viewed expanding inspection functions negatively. Regarding policies to strengthen inspection functions, such as increasing inspection personnel, 87.7% of police officers said they were "unnecessary (generally + very)." The share who said "necessary (generally + very)" was 10.8%.
A total of 86.5% projected that strengthening inspection functions would discourage law enforcement by frontline officers (somewhat + greatly). Only 3.8% projected it would increase accountability (somewhat + greatly).
The Korean National Police Agency said that amendments to the Criminal Procedure Act and the abolition of prosecutors' supplementary investigative authority have raised public expectations for the police organization, and it will prepare a plan to operate a rational rotational assignment system with the goal of implementation in the first half of 2027. It is also pursuing steps to strengthen inspection functions, prompted by the case of "the high school girl murderer" Jang Yun-gi.