Members of the National Police Workplace Council hold a head-shaving ceremony in front of the Korean National Police Agency in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, in 2024, to protest GPS surveillance and forced patrol reassignments. [Yonhap]
Members of the National Police Workplace Council hold a head-shaving ceremony in front of the Korean National Police Agency in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, in 2024, to protest GPS surveillance and forced patrol reassignments. [Yonhap]

The National Police Workplace Council, an alternative to a formal police union, has decided to stage a relay head-shaving protest involving chapter presidents from police stations across the country to demonstrate against the government's push for a mandatory rotation transfer system. The central steering committee will make the final decision on the timing and format of the action.

The council made the decision at an extraordinary general assembly held in Daejeon on Friday, July 17, adopting the relay head-shaving protest as its primary response to the rotation transfer plan. Candidate venues for the ceremony include the area in front of the Korean National Police Agency, the Government Complex Seoul, and the vicinity of the presidential office near Cheong Wa Dae. Members discussed a plan in which chapter presidents from individual police stations would take part in turns.

The council is set to hold a central steering committee meeting at the Korean National Police Agency in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, on Friday to finalize the timing, venue and format of the action. The meeting will be attended by council central steering committee members, regional branch representatives and delegates, and the results will be conveyed to the Korean National Police Agency.

Some members within the council have also raised the idea of staging a hunger strike alongside the head-shaving protest, depending on how the situation develops. The relay head-shaving has been confirmed, while the question of a hunger strike remains under discussion.

Council chairman Min Gwan-gi said "expanding the rotation transfer system nationwide cannot be a fundamental solution" to the underlying problems, and criticized the policy as one that "undermines officers' livelihoods and residential stability, given that they have built their lives around the regions where they were recruited and have been serving."

Expanded rotation transfers could take effect as early as first half of next year

The Ministry of Interior and Safety and the Korean National Police Agency are pursuing an expanded rotation transfer system as a follow-up measure to the Jang Yun-gi case. The plan would extend mandatory rotation transfers — currently applied mainly to superintendent and inspector ranks — to lieutenant and below, and broaden the geographic scope from provincial to nationwide.

Police are understood to have reported to the National Assembly's Interior and Safety Committee on Thursday that they plan to introduce the expanded rotation transfer system from the first half of 2027. The plan also includes support measures for those subject to rotation transfers, such as subsidized housing and transportation costs.

Jang Yun-gi, 23, facing charges of murder and attempted murder, is transferred from the Gwangju Western Police Station to prosecutors in May. [Yonhap]
Jang Yun-gi, 23, facing charges of murder and attempted murder, is transferred from the Gwangju Western Police Station to prosecutors in May. [Yonhap]

As internal opposition spread, the Korean National Police Agency posted a notice on its internal network on Tuesday saying it would "maintain the broad framework of the current rotation transfer system while working out a reasonable plan that both the public and members of the organization can accept," and clarified that "rotation transfers covering all ranks, forced inter-provincial transfers, and rotation of specific units are not facts."

The agency added that it would pursue the rotation transfer system "in a way that supports frontline officers in maintaining stable lives while improving the predictability and fairness of personnel decisions."

The council, however, fears that expanding rotation transfers to the lieutenant rank would also affect organizational continuity, since a significant number of chapter presidents hold that rank. A council official, identified only as A, said, "If a chapter president is transferred to another police station, the representative elected by staff would be unable to complete their term, and both the local chapter and the national organization could be destabilized."

The council also sees the plan as a potential burden on the broader police organization. A surge in long-distance transfers would increase officers' financial burden through moving and commuting costs, and could sever investigative expertise and local intelligence built up over years. The official said, "Specialized units that require long-term accumulation of local knowledge — such as criminal investigations and the women and youth division — could see their investigative expertise and local public safety capacity weakened if large-scale rotation transfers are carried out."

The chapter president at a Seoul police station said the issue was "more serious than when we opposed the creation of the police bureau," adding, "If the head-shaving is confirmed, we have no choice but to take part in turns."


jookapooka@heraldcorp.com
raining@heraldcorp.com