hankyoreh

Ex-president Chun Doo-hwan after attending the funeral of former president Kim Young-sam in Nov. 2015. (photo pool)

The South Korean police announced on May 21 that they would be withdrawing all security personnel near the homes of former Presidents Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo as of next year.

At the same time, they also plan to keep current guard personnel in place.

In a meeting with reporters that morning, National Police Agency (NPA) commissioner Lee Chul-sung general explained, “Guard personnel [for the two ex-Presidents] will be reduced by half early next year, while security personnel will be reduced by 20% this year and withdrawn fully as of next year.”

Guard personnel are responsible for protecting former Presidents from personal threats nearby, while security personnel are responsible for security near their homes. Police reduced Chun and Roh’s guard numbers from 10 to five each early this year, while maintaining 50 to 80 security staffers.

Chun and Roh previously received respective sentences of life and 17 years in prison for their roles in the military coup of Dec. 12, 1979, and the massacre of civilians during the Gwangju Democratization Movement of May 1980. While they have been denied other privileges as former Presidents on these grounds, exceptions have been granted for security and guard staffing.

The Honorable Treatment of Ex-Presidents Act and other laws stipulate that the Presidential Security Service (PSS) is to provide guard services for at least 10 and no more than 15 years after a President leaves office, after which the police are to provide “guard and security services for a necessary period of time.” No legal basis currently dictates how long such guard and security services are to be provided for.

“We are [providing guard services] according to the law, so I think that if we are not going to [offer guard and security services],] that should be in accordance with an amendment of the law consistent with the public’s opinion and policy decisions,” Lee said.

The decision to withdraw security follows the disbanding of the conscripted police units that provided the services ahead of the 2023 abolition of the conscripted police system.

But criticisms over the appropriateness of police continuing to guard former Presidents convicted as ringleaders in a military coup are expected to continue for the time being. Minkahyup, the Center for Military Human Rights, Korea (MHRK), and other civic groups launched a Blue House citizens’ petition on May 17 to demand the withdrawal of all guard and security services for the two; as of May 21, over 10,000 people had taken part.

“These two men do not deserve to receive honorable treatment. To maintain guard staff is to force the police officers in question to do something they are not obligated to do,” said MHRK director Lim Tae-hoon.

By Jung Hwan-bong, staff reporter

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