'Officers are someone's precious family members'
'No more senseless acts of violence'
![Police officers stand at the entrance of the handball arena at Olympic Park in Songpa-gu, Seoul, on Tuesday, as the "Jamsil vote-counting center blockade protest" — demanding a re-election over a ballot shortage during the June 3 local elections — continues. [Yonhap]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/06/10/rcv.YNA.20260609.PYH2026060913670001300_P1.jpg)
President Lee Jae Myung said Wednesday that insults and mockery directed at police officers deployed at the Jamsil protest site had "gone too far" and that behavior crossing the line "cannot be tolerated."
Lee made the remarks in a post on X, formerly Twitter, titled "Officers on the ground are citizens in uniform."
"I am told that officers are being branded as 'fake police,' subjected to verbal abuse, and even confined and assaulted without hesitation," Lee said. "Things that are utterly incomprehensible and unacceptable are happening openly in broad daylight."
He added that police officers "are someone's precious family members and citizens in uniform," and that violence against officers protecting public safety and human rights "only endangers citizens and undermines the democratic public square."
Lee reiterated that while "citizens' freedom of expression and debate must be fully guaranteed, behavior that crosses the line cannot be tolerated," and appealed for "senseless acts of violence against officers on the ground and nearby citizens to stop."
He went on to extend "deep gratitude to the officers who are dedicating themselves to maintaining community order despite many difficulties," adding that he was "closely monitoring the situation at the Jamsil protest site."
moone@heraldcorp.com
