Seoul's Bangbae Police Station moves into its own building after 35 years

Seoul's Bangbae Police Station is moving into its own purpose-built headquarters for the first time in its 35-year history.

Police said Monday that the station will relocate its departments in stages to a newly constructed building at 54 Bangbaecheon-ro in Bangbae-dong, Seocho-gu, with the process running through Saturday.

Bangbae Police Station has operated out of borrowed facilities since it was established in 1991, initially using a former building that had belonged to Gwanak Police Station. From 2018, it rented space in a private building as a temporary headquarters while the new station was under construction.

The phased move began Sunday, with the public safety and foreign affairs unit, the crime prevention and public order unit, and the security operations unit transferring first. Monday's moves include the women and youth unit, the traffic management unit and the public complaints office.

On Tuesday, the crime prevention unit, the women's investigation team, the detective support team and the missing persons investigation team will relocate, followed Wednesday by detective teams one through four and the serious crimes team.

The administrative and finance units move Thursday, while Saturday's transfers cover the main civil affairs office, the traffic investigation team and the integrated investigation team — the station's primary public-facing and investigative divisions.