YOON ADDRESSES POLICE BUREAU DISPUTE

[Anchor Lead]

The Cabinet has approved the interior ministry's plan to establish a new police bureau. With police officers' resistance continuing, President Yoon Suk-yeol expressed deep concerns, saying it could seriously damage the discipline of the nation.

[Pkg]

On his way to work Tuesday morning, President Yoon Suk-yeol expressed deep concerns over police officers' group resistance to a government plan to establish a new police bureau. He said that the president is the commander of national defense and security and such collective action can seriously damage the order of the nation.

[Soundbite] Yoon Suk-yeol(President) : "The fundamental order and discipline of the nation should not be shaken."

The president defended Interior Minister Lee Sang-min's tough stance against the police officers' protest, saying it reflects public concerns. Lee previously implied his intention to sternly deal with the protesting officers, likening their move to a coup. The ruling People Power Party condemned the protesting police officers, saying that as a law enforcement authority, the police's disobedience and collective action are unacceptable.

[Soundbite] Kweon Seong-dong(Acting chair, PPP) : "The police's disobedience is as grave as the military's insubordination. They should be held accountable with the same gravity."

Sixty-one first-term lawmakers of the ruling bloc issued a statement and urged the police officers to apologize for taking the group action and hurting the honor of 130,000 working-level police officers who work hard to serve the people. The Democratic Party held a press conference in front of the presidential office in Yongsan and blasted the interior minister for showing a position similar to an administrative coup.

[Soundbite] Park Hong-keun(Floor Leader, Democratic Party) : "Who is the one that damages national discipline? It is the Yoon administration. They picked up the habit of the expression ‘disturbance of national discipline.’"

The main opposition party said that with political issues, the government is trying to turn public attention away from its failure in finding solutions to economic affairs. It added the Yoon administration is the one that is damaging the discipline of the nation.