Police officers' decadeslong community ties fuel calls for wider rotation

An official walks past the lobby of the National Office of Investigation in Seodaemun District, Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap

About 17,000 police officers have worked at the same station for more than 10 years, amid a government push to expand its police rotation policy over concerns about local cronyism.

According to data submitted by the National Police Agency to Rep. Lee Sang-sik of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, 5,209 senior inspectors, 8,697 inspectors, 3,211 assistant inspectors and 13 senior patrol officers had worked at the same station for over 10 years as of this month.

At the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, 8.4 percent of 31,302 officers at the rank of senior inspector or below had worked at the same station for over 10 years. The Jeonbuk Provincial Police Agency in North Jeolla Province posted 23.8 percent of 5,136 officers, and the Chungbuk Provincial Police Agency in North Chungcheong Province posted 21.7 percent of 3,954 officers.

Senior inspectors and inspectors, the two ranks that lead frontline operations, made up 18 percent and 24.2 percent of their ranks nationwide, giving officers local familiarity that aids community policing but could also breed collusion between officers and local figures.

Such concerns prompted the Ministry of the Interior and Safety to announce plans this month to expand its rotation system.

The system has largely excluded officers below senior command ranks from nationwide rotation because of the need for investigative continuity. Starting in the first half of next year, however, the policy is expected to expand to cover more ranks and broaden from the provincial level to nationwide.

The finding comes as the father of Jang Yoon-gi, a suspect in the murder of a high school girl in May, allegedly destroyed evidence in the case, reigniting scrutiny of cronyism among police officers.

Investigators later found that Jang's father, an active-duty police officer, had disposed of items from his son's residence, including several mobile phones and a sex doll whose chest and neck areas showed concentrated damage.