'Even a small minority's misconduct can open a gaping hole in the entire system'

President Lee Jae Myung speaks at a senior secretaries meeting at Cheong Wa Dae on Thursday. [Yonhap]
President Lee Jae Myung speaks at a senior secretaries meeting at Cheong Wa Dae on Thursday. [Yonhap]

President Lee Jae Myung called on police Thursday to treat a series of recent misconduct cases — including the falsely closed Jeju missing-persons case — as a mirror for change, urging officers to pursue internal reform and systemic improvements with "bone-cutting resolve."

Lee made the remarks while presiding over a senior secretaries meeting at Cheong Wa Dae, warning that "even if the majority of officers do their best in the field, the misconduct of an extremely small minority can open a gaping hole in the entire system."

"There must not be even a single gap in public safety, which bears responsibility for the lives of the people," he said. "Yet the incidents that have occurred in quick succession recently have exposed no small number of vulnerabilities in our security apparatus."

Lee stressed that a comprehensive review was needed across all case-handling procedures, not just missing-persons cases. "We must thoroughly re-examine whether there are any flaws in existing practices and systems across the entire process of handling every type of case," he said.

The remarks came amid growing public frustration following a string of police misconduct cases that have come to light recently, including the so-called Jang Yun-gi case and the Jeju missing-persons case.

Lee also instructed officials to step outside an insider's perspective and assess shortcomings from the public's point of view, the victim's standpoint and that of an objective observer. "Examine carefully what was lacking and what needs to be supplemented," he said.

Lee noted that the launch of the Public Prosecution Office and the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency was about a month away. "The goal of all reform is to substantively improve the lives of the people — what might be called livelihood reform," he said. "Reform is not completed or judged by words in a law book, but in the everyday lives of the people."

He urged all relevant agencies to work together to establish a public safety system the public can trust, adding that related systems must be thoroughly overhauled and necessary measures rigorously implemented "so that not even the smallest gap arises in protecting the lives, safety and rights of the people during the remaining period."


sang@heraldcorp.com