Cho Hyun-oh, who resigned as chief of the National Police Agency for the Suwon kidnapping murder case two months ago, was questioned by the prosecution for his statement about former President Noh Moo-hyun’s borrowed-name bank account.

As a policeman, I was shocked because he changed our lifestyle during his service. For instance, there was so-called ``water gas’’ or ``toilet gas,’’ which meant that junior officers couldn’t drink water or go to the toilet. It was common for juniors to be beaten or insulted by senior officers.

But his instructions to improve living conditions changed everything. Every day we were educated about human rights and measures were taken to make juniors perform their duties more rationally. Moreover, seniors who were found to engage in violence were punished harshly through the introduction of a grievance-settlement system.

Victimized juniors were given the opportunity to move to other units. Cho stood at the vanguard of such changes. Without him, changes would not have existed. So I hope that he will be dealt with leniently.