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Reform Party leader Lee Jun-seok called for a meaningful expansion of legal immunity for on-duty police officers' use of equipment, seizing on the results of this year's first gender-integrated recruitment exam for patrol officers.
In a Facebook post Tuesday, Lee said female officers tend to rely more heavily on equipment such as Tasers than on physical restraint, and argued that gear can compensate for differences in physical strength. He cited field research from the United States to support the point.
Lee said the core problem is a culture in which Korean officers are reluctant to draw their equipment. Even when officers follow proper procedures, he argued, fear of being held responsible after the fact — should an excessive-force controversy arise — causes them to hesitate at the scene.
He added that as knife-related crimes increase, restricting equipment use leaves the people most exposed to danger: the citizens who called for help and the officers who respond to scenes alone.
Lee said that if the integrated recruitment system is to continue, strict physical fitness standards must be enforced alongside genuine immunity guarantees for the exercise of official duties.
"Fairness does not come from numerical gender parity," Lee said, adding that creating an environment in which officers on the ground can properly exercise their authority must come first.
According to the Korean National Police Agency, women accounted for 1,112 of the 2,941 candidates who passed the first half of 2026's open competitive recruitment exam for patrol officers, or 37.8 percent. It was the first year the agency scrapped its separate male and female quotas in favor of fully integrated selection, and the share of female recruits — typically around 20 percent — nearly doubled.
The agency said the higher proportion of female recruits was a natural outcome of women consistently posting higher competition ratios than men. Acting Commissioner General Yoo Jae-seong told reporters Sunday that if serious problems with field response capabilities were confirmed, the agency would consider institutional remedies.
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