[Anchor]
It has been confirmed that a veteran police superintendent in his 50s, who has worked in South Gyeongsang Province for over 30 years, is undergoing an intensive internal probe over allegations including the sexual harassment of female junior police officers. It was found that his strong influence in the region had kept the details of the victims hidden until now.
Reporter Son Gijun has the details.
[Reporter]
SBS has confirmed through reporting that the National Police Agency's Inspection Division launched an investigation early this month into Superintendent A of the South Gyeongsang Provincial Police Agency over allegations including sexual misconduct.
The inspection team is focusing in particular on allegations of sexual harassment against female junior officers spanning several years, and starting this week, even the National Police Agency's Human Rights Protection Division—which is in charge of investigating internal sexual misconduct cases—has been deployed.
The sexual harassment reportedly took place mostly during drinking gatherings, and the number of victimized female officers identified so far exceeds 10, a figure that could rise further during additional investigations.
[Regional Police Station Official: I understand he had many drinking sessions, and by actively building relationships, he was known for managing his personal network well...]br />
A regional police official stated, "The targets were not only employees from the same department, but also those from other departments, and even female officers at local substations."
Superintendent A, in his late 50s, is a so-called local-career officer who has spent most of his service period of over 30 years working in the South Gyeongsang region, including Geoje.
In particular, he is known to have earned the nickname "King of Geoje" due to the extensive local network he built while working for a long time as an intelligence police officer handling regional information and trends.
The official said that his influence within the region prevented the damage from coming to light until now.
The police reportedly have also uncovered circumstances in which Superintendent A made female subordinate officers accompany him to drinking gatherings with prominent local figures, such as business executives, and subjected them to sexual harassment.
Following reports by SBS last month regarding the death of a firefighter in her 20s who had complained of workplace bullying, including forced drinking, President Lee Jae-myung repeatedly urged the eradication of drinking customs and sexual misconduct within the public service sector.
[President Lee Jae-myung (on the 15th): Drinking and having fun is all fine, but do not make young members of the opposite sex sit next to you or do things like that. That always leads to trouble. Young female staff members are not playthings.]
Considering the gravity of the matter, the National Police Agency directly initiated the inspection—bypassing the provincial police agency level usually handling cases involving the superintendent rank—and placed Superintendent A on leave.
(Photo: Yonhap News) (Video by: Jung Kyeong-moon | Video Editing by: Chang Hyun-ki | Design by: Choi Jin-hoe)
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