Exclusive: "Named Specific Names... Police Promotions Made as 'Geoje King' Decided"

[Anchor]

The National Police Agency inspection team is stepping up its investigation into the so-called "Geoje King" scandal involving a senior police officer who worked near Geoje, Gyeongsangnam-do, for over 30 years while allegedly sexually harassing junior female officers and interfering with personnel appointments. The team has been questioning regional human rights and personnel officials in areas such as Gyeongsangnam-do and Ulsan, reviewing the entire promotion screening process tied to this officer. There are even claims that the process was rigged from the start.

Reporter Bae Seong-jae investigated exclusively.

[Reporter]

The National Police Agency's inspection team, which has launched a high-intensity investigation into Superintendent A, dubbed the "Geoje King," recently conducted face-to-face questioning of personnel officers from regional police agencies in Gyeongsangnam-do, Ulsan, and surrounding areas.

Through these interviews, the inspection team is reviewing all promotion screening processes and results that took place over the years at the Geoje Police Station and other locations where Superintendent A worked.

The inspection team has reportedly captured circumstances indicating that Superintendent A effectively seized control of the Promotion Screening Committee, which decides candidates for promotion to inspector and senior inspector positions in key divisions such as investigation and intelligence at the Geoje Police Station.

[Local Police Official B: It was a rigged game. Only staff members wanted by 000 were allowed to go through the screening.]

Typically, promotion screenings for senior superintendents and below are handled by the Ordinary Promotion Screening Committee at front-line stations.

Candidates are selected within five times the quota for promotion, and once the committee reaches a conclusion, the decision is finalized by the provincial police agency after approval by the police station chief.

A local police official stated, noting that division heads at the superintendent level usually chair the committee, that "most of the screening committee members had close ties to the 'Geoje King'" and that they would simply say, "Person A and Person B are promoted as the 'Geoje King' wants," without any further discussion.

The inspection team is also focusing on intelligence that large sums of money changed hands ahead of promotion reviews, as well as allegations that Superintendent A exercised influence over appointments of senior superintendent-level superiors through the Police Development Committee, a regional private cooperative body.

[Local Police Official C: They pick the chief they want through members of the Police Development Committee. Once that chief arrives, because they owe a favor for their appointment, they can't do anything about the head of the intelligence division.]

As the scope of the investigation expands to include civilians belonging to the regional Police Development Committee, the fallout from the inspection is growing larger.

(Video by Park Na-young | Graphics by Kim Ye-ji)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.