Kim Jong-cheol tapped as deputy police chief as 14 of 18 regional commissioners reshuffled

The government carried out a sweeping reshuffle of senior police leadership Tuesday, replacing 14 of the country's 18 regional police commissioners in one move. More than 80 percent of senior superintendent-general posts were filled with new faces, and South Gyeongsang Provincial Police Commissioner Kim Jong-cheol will move up to become deputy commissioner general of the Korean National Police Agency — the second-highest position in the organization.

The Korean National Police Agency announced the second-half transfers of senior police officials Tuesday, including Kim's appointment as deputy commissioner general.

The defining feature of this reshuffle is its scale. Fourteen of the 18 regional commissioners across the country are being replaced — a turnover rate of 78 percent. When all senior superintendent-general posts are counted, the replacement rate rises to 81 percent.

Kim, named deputy commissioner general, was promoted last month from senior superintendent-general to superintendent general. The superintendent general rank sits directly below the commissioner general — the top rank in the police — and covers positions including the deputy commissioner general, the director of the National Investigation Headquarters, and the commissioners of the Seoul, Busan, Incheon and South Gyeonggi provincial agencies, as well as the president of the Korean National Police University.

Kim previously served as the lifestyle safety director of the Gangwon Provincial Police Agency, the public safety director of the South Chungcheong Provincial Police Agency, and the lifestyle safety and traffic director of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency before taking the helm of the South Gyeongsang agency. He also served at Cheong Wa Dae's national situation room during the Moon Jae-in administration.

Earlier, the Korean National Police Agency on Aug. 12 announced the promotion of four officials to superintendent general, including Kim, National Investigation Headquarters investigation planning coordinator Yoo Seung-ryeol, South Jeolla Provincial Police Commissioner Ko Beom-seok and Jeju Provincial Police Commissioner Ko Pyeong-gi. The agency also announced the promotion of nine senior superintendents to senior superintendent-general at the same time. Tuesday's transfer reshuffle follows directly from those promotions.

Starting with this round, the so-called "home-region exclusion" rule has been applied across all regional commissioner appointments nationwide. The policy bars officials from heading the police agency in their home region or areas where they have personal ties, with the aim of reducing the risk of collusion with local communities.

The Korean National Police Agency said it introduced the rule across all regional commissioner appointments to strengthen fairness and accountability. It plans to extend the policy to other key posts, including the audit, inspection and human rights officer positions at regional agencies, in future reshuffles.

The reshuffle also reinforced investigative leadership. To meet the expanded investigative responsibilities police have taken on since amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure, two officials with specialist investigative backgrounds were placed in key positions at the National Investigation Headquarters.