[Anchor]
This is a follow-up report on a police superintendent in his 50s, known as the "King of Geoje," who has been facing various allegations including sexual misconduct. It has been confirmed that despite the National Police Agency judging him as unqualified during a personnel screening, he managed to secure the exact local position he wanted. SBS has obtained testimonies revealing that he even hurled verbal abuse and threats at National Police Agency screening committee members who opposed him.
This is an exclusive report by Cho Min-ki.
[Reporter]
Superintendent A, who had worked for more than 30 years primarily as an intelligence police officer in South Gyeongsang Province including Geoje, was serving as the head of the intelligence division at a frontline police station in 2023. At that time, a police organizational restructuring took place to reduce and abolish frontline police station intelligence divisions and transfer intelligence-gathering functions to regional provincial police agencies.
Superintendent A applied for the newly established regional intelligence team leader position at the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency, and the National Police Agency directly formed a screening committee at the time to evaluate his qualifications.
The screening results concluded that Superintendent A was unqualified.
The decision was attributed to his poor public reputation, including suspicions of various collusion stemming from his long-term service exclusively in and around Geoje.
Although Superintendent A immediately filed an objection, it was confirmed that a newly formed screening committee dismissed it, stating there were no problems with the previous judgment.
While the identities of the screening committee members at the time were not disclosed, SBS coverage revealed that Superintendent A somehow found out who they were and contacted them individually to protest.
Multiple sources stated, "Superintendent A unleashed unspeakable profanities and threatened them by saying, 'I will not leave you alone' and 'Let's see,' to the extent that arguments were raised at the time calling for a internal inspection given the severity of the matter."
However, despite the National Police Agency's two separate unqualification rulings and the verbal abuse and threats directed at the committee members, Superintendent A was ultimately appointed as the head of the regional intelligence team at the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency.
It is reported that there were no other applicants for the position besides Superintendent A. A local police official noted, "There were widespread rumors at the time that Superintendent A pressured others so that no one else could apply."
The reporting team attempted to contact Superintendent A several times to hear his side, but could not reach him.
The National Police Agency's inspection team plans to thoroughly examine whether there were any issues in the process by which Superintendent A was transferred to the position of regional intelligence team leader at the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency.
(Video Report: Park Hyun-cheol | Video Editing: Shin Se-eun | Design: Park Tae-young)
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