On the first day in office, new Korean National Police Agency Vice Administrator and acting commissioner Kim Jong-cheol convened commanders nationwide and apologized for shoddy investigations that have recently come to light, including the "Jang Yoon-gi case" and the "Jeju missing person false closure case."
Kim presided over a nationwide police leadership meeting at 9 a.m. on the 3rd. The official slogan for the meeting was set as "The police fell short. Through searing self-reflection and thorough reform, we will rebuild the police from the ground up."
At the start of the meeting, Kim read the Police Charter, established when the Korean National Police Agency was launched in 1991, on behalf of the nationwide police leadership. The Police Charter states that there is an honorable responsibility "to protect individual freedom and rights and maintain public peace and order so that all citizens can enjoy a peaceful and happy life."
In his opening remarks, Kim bowed his head and said, "As I offer my first greeting to the public here today, before any promise, I express reflection and an apology."
Kim said, "In the recent Jang Yoon-gi case and the Jeju missing person cover-up case, the police, who should protect the lives and safety of the people, failed to fulfill their role, and we did not properly respond to the desperate pleas of those anxiously awaiting news of their beloved family members' life or death," adding, "We will not avoid or make excuses for the public's question, 'Can we really trust the police?,' nor will we end by blaming only individual officers."
He continued, "We will thoroughly determine how such things were possible in the field and why the management and oversight system did not function properly, and answer the public's questions responsibly," and said, "We will reveal the police's faults as they are and root out a culture of hiding or covering up. We will not explain only facts favorable to the police; we will transparently disclose to the public who is at fault and where command and supervisory responsibility lies."
Kim also said, "We will ensure that acts that undermine the fairness and independence of investigations, that downplay or cover up cases, and that provide explanations to the public that are contrary to the facts can no longer take root in the police."
He added, "Mushinbulip (無信不立), without trust, the police have no reason to exist," and said, "We will not stop at talk but will show change and action."
The nationwide police leadership held a closed-door meeting and finalized plans to overhaul the response system for missing person cases. The focus is to review and improve the entire process from intake to search and investigation, and management and oversight, so as not to miss the golden time to find missing persons. They also decided to conduct a full review of all ongoing missing person cases nationwide and to strictly hold accountable, regardless of position or rank, anyone found to have engaged in inappropriate work practices.
A "police reform task force" will also be launched. The task force will conduct a broad review not only of organizational and institutional restructuring but also of crime response methods and systems, on-site work practices, and organizational culture. During the reform process, it will gather opinions from the National Assembly, the government, civil society, and frontline officers and actively incorporate hard-hitting critiques.
As his first on-site move after taking office, Kim will visit Jeju Island on the day. He will meet with the missing person's bereaved family to offer comfort and an apology, and is also scheduled to receive a briefing on pending issues from the Jeju Provincial Police Agency.