Acting police chief Yoo Jae-sung: “Police investigations are a responsibility and duty, not a power”

Yoo Jae-sung closed out 15 months as acting commissioner general with a warning that police investigations must be understood as an obligation, not an institutional privilege.

At his farewell ceremony in Seoul, Yoo said police could not choose selectively when to investigate, unlike other investigative agencies. He said the organization stood at another major turning point, with the revised Criminal Procedure Act due to take effect in about a month and investigation and prosecution set to become fully separated.

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Police investigations are a responsibility and duty, not a power.

Yoo, a 38-year police veteran, had led the organization after becoming deputy commissioner general in June last year. Before that, he served as chief of the Chungnam and Daegu provincial police agencies and headed the National Office of Investigation’s criminal investigations bureau.

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Unlike other investigative agencies, our police cannot choose selectively whether to investigate.

His tenure coincided with the passage of amendments that greatly expanded police autonomy in investigations. It also faced controversy, including the disputed closure of a missing-person case in Jeju and allegations of an inadequate investigation involving Jang Yun-gi.

Yoo addressed the police force’s recent loss of public trust, asking whether command and supervision had worked without gaps, whether standards and procedures were complete, and whether internal systems had functioned properly. He urged officers to unite behind the new leadership and asked the public to view the difficulties police face in the field with understanding. Kim Jong-cheol, formerly chief of the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency, was appointed as the new deputy commissioner and will continue as acting commissioner general.

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Recent successive incidents and accidents make us question even the reason for the police’s existence.