Veteran police officer tapped as new investigation chief

By Lee Hyo-jin

Woo Jong-soo, head of the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police, has been recommended to head the National Office of Investigation, filling the vacant post after his predecessor resigned a month before beginning his term.

Woo Jong-soo / Courtesy of National Police Agency

The National Police Agency Commissioner General Yoon Hee-keun has recently recommended Woo, 55, to President Yoon Suk Yeol, according to local reports. The presidential office will officially announce the appointment on Monday, after which he will begin his two-year term.

Woo worked for the law enforcement authority for 23 years, during which time he served in key posts including the head of Yongsan Police Station and head of the investigation department at the Seoul Metropolitan Police. In 2018, he headed the investigation of a high-profile online rigging scandal known as the Druking scandal.

The appointment of Woo comes a month after prosecutor-turned-lawyer Chung Sun-sin resigned just a day before assuming his post, due to the school bullying controversy of his son.

Chung was named as the new chief on Feb. 24, but offered to step down a day later, after reports regarding his son's bullying case surfaced. The reports detailed how his son had been transferred to another school in 2018 for bullying a classmate and how Chung filed an unsuccessful lawsuit against the school claiming that the transfer was unjust.

Public criticisms mounted not only over Chung, but also over the government's poor screening of candidates for key positions and high-ranking government officials.