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By Gil Yoon-hyeong

Controversy has flared in the wake of a decision by the police leadership to hand down both its highest level of disciplinary measure and a mere “slap on the wrist” to two different officers involved in a torture scandal. One police chief was told that a recent torture and brutality case at Seoul’s Yangcheon Police Station was the result of an “excessive focus on results,” and was terminated, while the person in charge at the station where the acts took place received a mere one-month suspension. Critics within and outside the police have contended that the police leadership have responded too casually to an incident in which President Lee Myung-bak has also expressed serious concern.

The Korean National Police Agency (KNPA) convened a meeting of its central disciplinary committee on July 30, where it was decided that former Yangcheon Police Station chief Jeong Eun-sik, currently under provisional suspension, would be given a one-month formal suspension, while criminal division chief Lee Hae-sik, also under provisional suspension, would be given a three-month formal suspension. The committee cited as their reasons damage to the prestige of the police stemming from the torture allegations, as well as the failure to provide a report in a case where the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK). Prosecutors have been conducting investigations.

Suspension is the mildest of the police’s heavy disciplinary measures, followed by demotion, dismissal, and termination, in that order. Perhaps conscious of this, the agency initially declined to announce its decision on the disciplinary measures, only confirming them later after a Yonhap News Agency report surfaced Monday evening.

Within the police, critics have charged that frank comments and criticism about the state of the police leadership have been treated as worse acts than torture and the illicit giving and receiving of money and goods.

On July 22, the National Police Agency terminated former Seoul Gangbuk Police Station chief Chae Soo-chang, who said that the use of torture at the Yangcheon Station “was because of an excessive focus on results by Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Commissioner Cho Hyun-oh.”

At the time, the agency explained its decision by saying, “Mr. Chae, who was a superintendent-level official, used a press conference to call for the resignation of his direct superior, without passing through the official communicative channels within the police.”

Indeed, in May the police terminated Park Yun-geun, a sergeant at the Ansan Sangnok Police Station, after he placed a post on the internal police bulletin board criticizing the “results first” mindset of Cho, who was then head of the Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency. This was followed by the terminations of three more officers, including Seoul Suseo Police Station sergeant Yang Dong-yeol, who posted opinions agreeing with Park’s. These actions made it clear that the police would not tolerate criticism of the leadership.

However, observers also say the disciplinary standards applied by the police are inconsistent in view of similar precedents. In August 2007, during the Roh Moo-hyun administration, Hwang Woon-ha, then Police Training Institute administrative manager, called for the resignation of National Police Agency Commissioner General Lee Taek-soon for his involvement in an attempted cover-up of a contracted assault case involving Hanhwa Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn. Hwang, who is now director of the SMPA’s criminal division, received only the light disciplinary measure of a three-month pay reduction.

Meanwhile, discontent is growing among lower-ranked police officers. The police chief who was in charge of the station at the time of the torture incident was given a one-month suspension, but five lower-ranking officers who participated directly in the acts, including a sergeant identified by the surname Seong, are to receive terminations.

“The station chief and the others may have avoided responsibilities by claiming to have known nothing about what was going on, but who is going to trust and follow those commanders in the future?” asked a sergeant at a Seoul-area station. “I imagine the pain and frustration of the lower-ranked officers will be considerable.”

Citizens’ Solidarity for Human Rights Director General Oh Chang-ik said, “This ‘slap on the wrist’ was predicted from the moment the torture incident erupted and the police leadership responded with a ‘let’s wait out the storm’ approach.”

Oh went on to say, “People have expressed concern from all quarters, but the police leadership have yet to present any clear plans for improvement in either the torture or the ‘results first’ promotion system and mindset.”

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]