POLICE FORCE MEETING CALLED OFF

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Frontline police officers have voluntarily decided not to hold an agency-wide meeting this weekend. The meeting was originally proposed to protest the establishment of a new police bureau in the interior ministry. The National Police Agency will start hearing the opinions of mid-to-low level officers from Wednesday.

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Inspector Kim Seong-jong who had proposed a meeting of all 140,000 police officers on July 30th has voluntarily scrapped the plan. He posted on the police intranet on Wednesday to announce that social solutions are no longer available since the plan to establish a new police bureau passed Tuesday's Cabinet meeting. He addded that he trusts parliament to use legislative means to rectify the situation. Commander Ryu Sam-young, who had earlier organized a meeting of police captains, asked for restraint in fear of the deteriorating situation. Interior Minister Lee Sang-min said the recent development is “very fortunate,” adding that “now is the time to resolve misunderstanding and conflict and come together with the people.” He also asked officers not to turn the new police bureau into a political issue. However, some police officers still maintain that the meeting should proceed as planned. Inspector Yu Geun-chang, who had proposed a meeting of patrol station and police substation captains, explained that he is looking for another place to hold the meeting if the Police Human Resources Development Institute refuses to provide a venue. As the prospect of this weekend's meeting becomes unclear, the National Police Agency has started to gather opinions from frontline police officers. Starting in Sejong on Wednesday, the NPA will host meetings with low-level police officers through provincial and metropolitan police agencies until Friday. It remains to be seen whether rank and file officers’ opposition to the establishment of the bureau will subside.