Police face second leaderless national audit amid Jang Yun-gi scandal

The Korean National Police Agency is heading into its second consecutive national audit without a permanent chief, facing mounting scrutiny over its expanded investigative powers following the abolition of the prosecution service on Oct. 1 and calls to root out internal misconduct.

The National Assembly's Interior and Safety Committee will conduct its audit of the police agency Monday at the agency's headquarters in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul. Kim Jong-cheol, the agency's deputy commissioner general serving as its second acting chief since the launch of the Lee Jae Myung administration, will field questions on issues surrounding the police.

At the committee's audit of the Ministry of Interior and Safety last Tuesday, lawmakers directed sharp calls for police reform. Interior and Safety Minister Yun Ho-jung said in his opening remarks that the government was "vigorously pursuing police reform, including rooting out internal corruption and overhauling the investigative system, to restore public trust in a police force whose credibility has been damaged by shoddy cover-up investigations." Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Lee Sang-sik raised the abolition of the National Police University as one avenue for reforming the police command structure, saying, "The police must also make painful efforts. They need to be willing to bear losses and hardship."

The opposition has urged the swift appointment of a permanent chief, arguing that the prolonged vacancy is hampering accountability and organizational reform in the handling of major cases. People Power Party lawmaker Kang Myeong-guk, who leads his party's side on the Interior and Safety Committee, said, "There has never been a more urgent need for a permanent chief who can take responsibility before the public and direct and coordinate the police's expanded investigative powers so they are not abused." He added that if public safety were compromised "in this defenseless state where there is no one to take responsibility for the police organization, the ultimate responsibility lies with the president, who holds the appointment authority." Kang urged President Lee Jae Myung to "publicly explain to the people why he has delayed appointing a police commissioner general for so long."

Meanwhile, acting chief Kim has convened a series of senior leadership meetings to tighten discipline since taking office as deputy commissioner general on Sept. 3. At a nationwide meeting of audit and inspection unit heads last Wednesday, Kim said, "Justice cannot be upheld with dirty hands," pledging to "respond strictly to corruption and misconduct regardless of rank, break with the culture of shielding colleagues and cronyism, and rebuild a police force that the public can trust."

The day before the revised Code of Criminal Procedure took effect, Kim summoned more than 650 commanders from across the country on Oct. 1 and said the agency would "hold people strictly accountable — with dismissal as the default — for serious misconduct such as corruption, case fabrication or concealment, and shielding colleagues."

The police have been busy with self-reform measures, launching a dedicated unit to investigate serious internal misconduct and establishing a police investigative reform committee led by outside members. These steps were prompted by public outrage over cases including the Gwangju high school murder by Jang Yun-gi — in which deliberate concealment by police came to light — and a case in Jeju in which a missing person's case was falsely closed.

The agency has operated under a succession of acting chiefs since former Commissioner General Cho Ji-ho was suspended from duty in December 2024. With prosecutors stripped entirely of their investigative authority, the burden on police has grown heavier, yet the force still lacks a permanent chief to take charge and lead it.