Off-duty officer caught with live rounds at Jeju airport formally booked

A serving police officer caught trying to board a flight at Jeju International Airport while carrying live pistol rounds has been formally booked.

Jeju Western Police Station said it booked the officer, identified only as A, a man in his 30s assigned to a local police unit in Gyeonggi Province, on charges of violating the Act on the Safety Management of Firearms, Swords, Explosives and Other Dangerous Articles.

A is suspected of attempting to board a Gimpo-bound flight at Jeju airport at around 8:40 p.m. on June 28 while carrying two live rounds.

The rounds were discovered during an X-ray security screening. A was not carrying a pistol at the time, police confirmed.

Authorities also determined that A had not been flagged during a security check when he departed from Gimpo airport for Jeju on June 26.

Police recovered the rounds after the airport reported the incident and sent them to the National Forensic Service for analysis. The examination confirmed they were live rounds for a .38-caliber pistol — the standard sidearm used by rank-and-file officers on duty.

Police are investigating how A came to possess the rounds.