Can a more powerful police force be trusted? Officer disciplinary cases on track to exceed 600 this year

Misconduct within the police force is on the rise, raising alarm as the ruling party moves to further expand police investigative powers — first by abolishing the prosecution service and now by stripping prosecutors of their supplementary investigative authority.

According to the Korean National Police Agency, the annual number of disciplinary cases against officers stood at 426 in 2020 but climbed after the 2021 redistribution of investigative powers between police and prosecutors, reaching the 500s per year from 2024 onward.

This year alone, the figure had already reached 300 through June, with some observers warning that the annual total could surpass 600.

The nature of the violations is equally troubling. Last year, the leading cause of disciplinary action was rule violations — including drunk driving — at 235 cases, followed by conduct unbecoming an officer, such as sexual misconduct, at 218 cases.

Cases involving the acceptance of bribes in exchange for influencing investigations — a category that strikes directly at the credibility of police inquiries — totaled 27 last year. This year, six such cases have already been detected.

The severity of punishments is also escalating. The two most serious penalties, removal from office and dismissal, jumped from 59 cases in 2021 to 100 last year, nearly doubling.

Nor are these isolated incidents: a growing number of serving officers have come under investigation on suspicion of leaking investigative intelligence to brokers.

Last month, an officer surnamed A from the Guro Police Station was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for two years, after being indicted on charges of leaking official secrets. He is accused of passing a copy of an investigative report related to an arrest warrant application to a broker who was a former police officer.

In February, a serving senior police officer was sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined 1.6 billion won after accepting about 700 million won ($465,000) in bribes from a businessman in exchange for favors.

More recently, the entire chain of command overseeing investigations and criminal affairs at the Gangnam Police Station was replaced amid allegations that officers had buried a fraud case involving broadcaster Yang Jeong-won.

These cases have deepened concerns that expanding police investigative powers could lead to even more internal misconduct.

Particularly within legal circles, the suspected collusion between Inspector Jang — the father of convicted murderer Jang Yun-gi and a serving police officer — and the local investigative team, which came to light through prosecutors' supplementary investigation, has lent momentum to calls not only for tighter controls on police investigative authority but also for keeping that supplementary role intact.