'Rotation housing support' among Korean National Police Agency's key budget increase requests for next year
Deposit of 10 million won, monthly rent of 600,000 won calculated per officer
Police are seeking to secure roughly 10 billion won ($7.48 million) in budget funding for housing and related costs as they prepare to roll out mandatory rotation transfers for newly promoted inspector-level officers starting next year.
According to a document on the Korean National Police Agency's key budget increase requests obtained through the National Assembly, police plan to expand rotation transfers starting with inspector-level officers next year and broaden the policy in stages. Inspectors hold section chief positions at local police stations and team leader positions at provincial police agencies.
Under the plan, the mandatory transfer requirement for newly promoted inspectors will be extended to all 18 metropolitan and provincial police agencies nationwide. Currently, only inspectors promoted within the Korean National Police Agency headquarters and the Seoul, Busan, Gwangju, Daejeon, Sejong and North Jeolla provincial agencies are subject to rotation transfers. The mandatory transfer period is four years, after which officers may return to their original posting.
To support the expansion, the agency has called on the National Assembly to increase the budget for repairing and leasing housing for rotation personnel from the government's proposed 5.76 billion won to 10.08 billion won — an increase of 4.32 billion won.
Of the 478 officers promoted to inspector rank this year, 227 are already serving at a different provincial agency from their original posting. The budget increase request is intended to cover housing lease costs for the remaining 251 officers who would be newly transferred. The agency calculated the figure based on a deposit of 10 million won and monthly rent of 600,000 won per officer, arriving at 1.81 billion won in annual deposits and 2.51 billion won in monthly rent for the 251 officers — totaling 4.32 billion won.
In explanatory materials submitted to the National Assembly, the agency cited the expansion of inspector-level rotation transfers as a response to "changes in the investigative environment following the abolition of the prosecution" and said the policy would "prevent the entrenchment of collusive ties and work practices arising from long-term service at the same agency."
The agency added that inspector-level officers serve as "the organizational backbone linking command and the field," and that exposing them to diverse policing environments would strengthen their managerial capabilities. It also said that exchanging talent across provincial agencies would allow regions to share accumulated policing experience and know-how, raising the overall consistency of public safety standards nationwide.
Rank-and-file officers push back: 'Sacrifices forced on the field'
Ahead of the policy's full rollout, the People Power Party plans to call Min Gwan-gi, co-chairman of the National Police Officers' Association, as a reference witness at the confirmation hearing for Korean National Police Agency chief nominee Kim Jong-cheol, scheduled for Wednesday. The hearing is expected to air the views of rank-and-file officers, including disagreements between police leadership and frontline personnel over the rotation transfer policy.
Opposition within the police force has been fierce. At a rally against the mandatory rotation policy held in front of the agency's Seodaemun-gu headquarters in August, Min argued that "a hasty policy that forces sacrifices on the field must be scrapped immediately."
The push to expand rotation transfers emerged after police investigating the Jang Yun-gi case — in which a high school girl was murdered in Gwangju — were found to have concealed evidence and extended investigative favors to local colleagues. The government and ruling party have pursued the expansion to prevent the collusion that can arise when officers serve in the same region for extended periods.
Interior and Safety Minister Yun Ho-jung issued a public apology in connection with the Jang Yun-gi case and pledged to "fully introduce a rotation transfer system to root out the problem of officers developing ties to their home regions."
arin@heraldcorp.com
