The first parliamentary audit of the Korean National Police Agency since the abolition of the Prosecution Service drew questions from both ruling and opposition lawmakers over the fairness and competence of police investigations. The probe into alleged false credentials involving the daughter of independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon and the lengthy questioning of People Power Party lawmaker Kim Jae-sup emerged as flashpoints, alongside debate over measures to prevent shoddy investigations and to strengthen police investigative capacity under the overhauled criminal justice system.
At the National Assembly Public Administration and Security Committee's audit of the police agency on the 12th, Rep. Yoon Gun-young of the Democratic Party of Korea alleged a deficient investigation into the claims surrounding Han's daughter. "Over one year and eight months, investigators questioned the complainant six times but conducted only a single written questioning of the accused," he said. Acting Police Commissioner General Kim Jong-cheol responded that police "should perhaps have made more active efforts to establish the substantive truth," adding that he "would not rule out the possibility of reopening the investigation if new facts emerge."
The People Power Party, by contrast, took issue with the 16 hours and 46 minutes that Kim Jae-sup spent under questioning by police. Rep. Kang Myung-koo of the People Power Party compared it with questioning of figures linked to the ruling party, criticizing what he called "brutal investigations for the opposition and warm investigations for the ruling party." Commissioner Kim rejected the characterization, saying, "I do not agree," and noting that "the defense counsel set the date of attendance, we ensured ample time for meals and breaks, and reviewing the written statement also took considerable time."
Asked about the contested rotational posting system, Kim said he would not push it through unilaterally.
Responding to Rep. Joo Ho-young of the People Power Party, who raised problems arising from the system's introduction, Kim said it was "true that extending rotational postings down to frontline officers is creating a burden," adding that "the police are also weighing this." He said the approach was "not an easy direction unless official housing and transportation costs are provided first," and explained that police would communicate closely with frontline officers and conduct surveys.
Responding to Rep. Lim Ho-sun of the Democratic Party, who called for a full suspension of the plan to expand rotational postings, Kim stressed that police "will not unilaterally push ahead in a direction that frontline officers do not support."
Lawmakers also criticized shoddy police investigations and the force's performance evaluation system. Rep. Lee Hae-sik of the Democratic Party cited the controversy over the handling of a missing-person case in Jeju Special Self-Governing Province and urged reform of an evaluation system weighted toward the number of cases closed and the speed of disposal. Hong Seok-ki, head of the National Investigation Headquarters, said police are "revising next year's performance indicators to raise the weight given to investigative completeness, reflecting factors such as the number of requests for supplementary investigation and case outcomes." Commissioner Kim said police would also consider including the time elapsed after prosecutors request supplementary investigation in the overall case processing period.
Overseas investigative cooperation and organizational restructuring also came under scrutiny. Rep. Park Sang-woong of the People Power Party said 56% of requests for overseas investigative cooperation last year went unanswered and demanded effective countermeasures. Kim explained the limits imposed by differing legal systems across countries and stressed the need to strengthen international cooperation.
Separately, Kim acknowledged that he had spoken by phone with President Lee Jae-myung at the time of the ceiling collapse at a commercial building in Daegu on the 10th of this month, but declined to give details on the exact time and circumstances of the call, saying it "does not seem appropriate to discuss here."