Seoul: Interior and Safety Minister Yoon Ho-jung and acting National Police Agency Commissioner Yoo Jae-sung bowed their heads and apologized to the public on Thursday as they unveiled measures to address the structural problems exposed by the handling of the murder of a high school girl in Gwangju. The two officials emphasized stronger oversight of the police from both inside and outside the organization.
According to Yonhap News Agency, their proposals include creating a civilian-led body under the National Police Commission to investigate human rights violations and misconduct in police investigations, establishing an internal corruption unit under the National Office of Investigation, introducing a rotating personnel system and conflict-of-interest rules, requiring officers to report cases involving family members and strengthening prosecutors' ability to demand supplementary investigations.
If these measures function as intended, they could help prevent a repeat of the botched investigation and the concealment of evidence by Gwangsan Police Station, which has provoked nationwide outrage. The deeper problem, however, lies elsewhere. The Gwangju case should not be viewed as an isolated failure at a single police station but as evidence of structural flaws that could emerge anywhere within the force.
Yet the endpoint of the Democratic Party's drive to strip prosecutors of investigative powers is to grant the police an effective monopoly over criminal investigations while eliminating even prosecutors' limited authority to order supplementary inquiries. The public anger surrounding this case stems largely from a fundamental question: Is it right to concentrate such enormous power in an institution that has revealed shortcomings of this magnitude?
The prosecution's authority to request supplementary investigations is a minimal safeguard against negligent or improper police work. It also serves as a final line of defense for vulnerable groups, including women and people with disabilities, within the criminal justice system. That authority should not become a tool in the Democratic Party's internal leadership contest or a bargaining chip in political negotiations. If it does, ordinary citizens will bear the cost.
Indeed, in the Gwangju case, police initially sought to treat the crime as a simple murder. Only after prosecutors conducted a thorough supplementary investigation did authorities determine that the killing had been committed with the intent to commit sexual violence. Meaningful oversight requires more than temporary fixes. Regardless of whether prosecutors retain supplementary investigative powers, every case handled by the police should be transferred to the newly-proposed public prosecution office for review.
Unless policymakers devise fundamental measures to restrain the concentration of investigative authority in the police and safeguard political neutrality, misconduct like what was seen in Gwangsan may reappear at any time and in any place.