[Anchor]
It has been confirmed that President Lee Jae-myung has been briefed on the need to adjust the pace of expanding the autonomous police system, a key national policy task. As concerns arise that the system could lead to collusion between police and local interests, some interpret this as a potential influence of the Jang Yun-gi case.
Reporter Kang Min-u has the story.
[Reporter]
The Lee Jae-myung administration has set the phased expansion and full implementation of the autonomous police system as a national policy task.
On July 2, a pan-governmental consultative body under the Prime Minister was also launched.
[President Lee Jae-myung (last March): We must gradually expand the autonomous police system to create a dense, field-oriented public safety cooperation network that works together with citizens.]
The government had initially planned to announce the direction for improving the autonomous police system and the pilot operation regions as early as the end of this month, begin pilot operations next year, and achieve full implementation by July 2028.
However, it has been confirmed that the need for a speed adjustment of the autonomous police system was discussed during the weekly meeting between President Lee Jae-myung and Prime Minister Han Seong-suk yesterday (July 20).
It is understood that Prime Minister Han reported that the announcement of the improvement model and pilot regions for the autonomous police system, originally scheduled for late July or early August at the latest, would be delayed, and President Lee accepted this.
This is interpreted as a signal that the government intends to carefully prepare countermeasures while gathering public opinion, given the criticisms that despite the original intent of decentralizing police power and realizing local autonomy, the system could lead to side effects such as collusion between local police and entrenched local interests, or a lack of central control.
Interpretations have also been raised that the current situation, where public trust in the police has declined due to incidents such as the Jang Yun-gi case, may have influenced the government's decision-making process.
The government is reportedly planning to create opportunities to listen to the opinions of the public as well as police officers in the field.
A key official from the Presidential Office stated, "We are collecting opinions from relevant ministries and reviewing the matter from various angles," adding, "Nothing has been finalized yet."
(Video reporting: Jung Sang-bo, Ha Ryung | Video editing: Nam Il | Design: Kang Yun-jeong)
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