National Assembly audit, Monday

Kim Jong-chul, acting commissioner general of the Korean National Police Agency (center), greets Interior Minister Yun Ho-jung and Kim Ji-yong, chief of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency (left), at the 2026 comprehensive national audit of the National Assembly's Interior and Safety Committee on Monday. [Yonhap]
Kim Jong-chul, acting commissioner general of the Korean National Police Agency (center), greets Interior Minister Yun Ho-jung and Kim Ji-yong, chief of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency (left), at the 2026 comprehensive national audit of the National Assembly's Interior and Safety Committee on Monday. [Yonhap]

Police are reviewing whether to allow officers to request provisional protective measures for victims of stalking and other relationship-based crimes directly from courts, bypassing prosecutors.

Kim Jong-chul, acting commissioner general of the Korean National Police Agency, made the remarks Monday at the National Assembly's Interior and Safety Committee national audit, responding to Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Lee Sang-sik, who said protective measures for victims of relationship-based crimes were too slow.

Lee said it was critical to quickly separate perpetrators of relationship-based crimes from their victims — through measures such as electronic monitoring and detention — but that requests were sometimes not filed at the prosecutor stage and that court rulings took time.

"There is public sentiment that police officers who know the situation on the scene should be able to apply directly to the court — what do you think?" Lee asked.

Kim said protective measures for victims of relationship-based crimes "are largely rooted in administrative procedure rather than judicial action," adding that routing requests through prosecutors "takes considerable time."

When Lee asked whether Kim intended to push for amendments to relevant laws, Kim said discussions with related ministries were ongoing.

Under the current Stalking Punishment Act, police may directly impose emergency measures such as bans on approach and communication, but provisional measures — including electronic monitoring and detention at a police holding facility or detention center — must be requested through a prosecutor before going to a court.


arin@heraldcorp.com