By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter
The image of police has been tainted by a series of corruption and malfeasance cases. A police officer working in southern Seoul allegedly beat a taxi driver to death Saturday. The policeman, identified as Lee, 45, is now under investigation, although the National Institute of Scientific Investigation announced that Lee’s attack was not the direct cause of the driver’s death, saying the victim died of heart attack.
Lee, who was drunk at the time, had a quarrel with the driver over taxi fares and allegedly attempted to strangle him.
A day earlier, a police officer in Incheon was arrested on suspicion of robbing a gambling room. On the same day, six police officers in southern Seoul were dismissed for having received bribes and entertainment from brothels.
Last month, police officers from Gangnam Police Station took money from massage parlor owners. A female owner in Nonhyeon-dong, identified as Nam, allegedly gave tens of millions of won to an officer. She also claimed she had offered a total of 22 million won to two to three other officers over two years since May 2006.
According to a report by the National Police Agency (NPA), owners of entertainment establishments paid an average 2.7 million won to each police officer in charge of controlling illegal businesses last year.
Another officer in North Jeolla Province, who was dismissed last month for being involved in corruption, set fire to the office of the prosecutor who had indicted him.
With these corruption cases and irregularities, criticism is mounting about lax discipline within the police force and many members are becoming disillusioned. Kang Hee-rak, the NPA commissioner general, vowed to boost the morale of the force and regain the public’s confidence.
To prevent possible irregularities by police, Kang plans to reinforce the role of the audit department and introduce measures to clean up their tainted public image.