Lee nominated as NPA chief

By Kim Bo-eun

Lee Chul-sung, deputy chief of the National Police Agency (NPA), was nominated to head the agency, Thursday.

“Lee is an embodiment of success ― he was appointed as a constable, took the commissioned officer candidate exam and reached his position as the chief superintendent general,” presidential spokesman Jung Youn-kuk said in a briefing at Cheong Wa Dae.

Lee was born in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, in 1958 and began his law enforcement career in 1982 as a constable at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA).

He passed the commissioned officer candidate exam in 1989 and served as the head of the Jeongseon and Wonju police stations in Gangwon Province and the Seoul Yeongdeungpo Police Station. Lee was also a public relations officer for the NPA and the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency’s deputy commissioner.

In addition, he served as an officer at the SMPA, chief of the foreign affairs and information bureaus at the NPA, South Gyeongsang Provincial Police Agency commissioner and secretary of social security and domestic security for the Presidential Secretariat.

“Lee has diverse work experience spanning the entirety of police duties, and because he worked for the Presidential Secretariat he is familiar with national policies,” said Jung.

“We anticipate that Lee will play a role in establishing public order by rooting out illegalities and factors of social unrest with his extensive experience and solid mind as a public official.”

His qualifications will be once again reviewed by lawmakers at a confirmation hearing before officially being appointed. The incumbent NPA chief Kang Sin-myeong’s term will end Aug. 22.