President Lee Calls on Police to Pursue Internal Reform ‘With a Willingness to Cut to the Bone’

President Lee Jae Myung told police to pursue internal cleansing and institutional reform “with a willingness to cut to the bone,” saying a series of recent incidents had exposed gaps in South Korea’s public security system.

Speaking at a senior advisers’ meeting at the Blue House on the 3rd, Lee said the cases showed that even when most officers do their best, misconduct by a very small number of people can create a major hole in the overall system. He called for a full review of existing practices and systems across the handling of all cases, not only missing-person investigations.

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The police must use these incidents as a mirror and undertake internal cleansing and institutional reform with a willingness to cut to the bone.

Lee said the review should move beyond the perspective of insiders. Officials should examine what had fallen short and what needed strengthening from the viewpoint of the public, victims and objective observers. He also pointed to progress against voice-phishing scams, saying the public had felt a sharp decline in such crimes because of the active work of a multinational task force involving police since he took office last year.

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Recent successive incidents reveal that our public security system has more than a minor gap.

He urged officials to use the current situation as an opportunity to make daily life safer. Discussing the prosecution office and Serious Crimes Investigation Office, which are due to open next month, he said the goal of every reform must be a tangible improvement in people’s lives. Reform, he added, would be completed and judged in citizens’ everyday lives, not in wording written in legal texts.

Lee also ordered officials to consider setting a minimum period of residence in South Korea for foreigners receiving national pension payments. He cited criticism of a case in which a foreigner paid into the pension system for one month and then made additional payments covering 119 months before receiving a pension. Lee said social security systems funded by citizens should be designed precisely and fairly so no one gains an improper benefit and citizens do not suffer unreasonable losses.

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The goal of every reform is a tangible improvement in people’s lives.

He asked officials to study overseas examples and domestic research before considering the residence requirement. He also called for a thorough review of other social security systems and state-subsidized programs for institutional loopholes that conflict with public expectations of fairness.

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Social security systems operated with funds collectively raised by citizens must be designed precisely and fairly so that no one gains an improper benefit and citizens do not suffer unreasonable losses.