Exclusive: Promotion Made as 'Geoje King' Decided... Resignation Submitted Yet Unprocessed

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The National Police Agency's inspection team is accelerating its investigation into allegations that a senior police officer who has worked in the Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province, area for over 30 years sexually harassed junior female officers and intervened in personnel appointments. The inspection team is looking into the overall "promotion screening process" involving this official, who submitted his resignation over the weekend.

Reporter Bae Seong-jae has the story.

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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 interviews with personnel officers from regional police agencies in neighboring areas such as South Gyeongsang Province and Ulsan.

Through these investigations, the inspection team is reviewing all promotion screening processes and results carried out over the past several years at police stations including the Geoje Police Station, where Superintendent A has worked.

The inspection team has reportedly captured circumstances suggesting that Superintendent A effectively dominated the "Promotion Screening Committee," which determines inspectors and senior inspectors promoted to key positions such as the investigation and intelligence divisions at the Geoje Police Station.

[Local Police Official B: It was a rigged game. It was structured so that screening was conducted only with staff members desired by 000.]

In the police force, promotions up to the rank of superintendent are typically handled by the "Ordinary Promotion Screening Committee" at frontline stations.

Candidates are selected within five times the quota for promotion, and once the committee reaches a conclusion, it goes through the police station chief's approval and is finally finalized by the provincial police agency.

Typically, a head of division with the rank of superintendent serves as the chair of the screening committee. A local police official vented, "Most of the committee members had close ties with the 'Geoje King'," and added, "They would simply say, 'Officer A and Officer B get promoted just 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 screenings, as well as suspicions that Superintendent A exerted influence over senior appointments at the superintendent level through the Police Development Committee, a local private cooperative body.

[Local Police Official C: He picks the chief he wants through the members of the Police Development Committee. Once (the chief) arrives, because they owe him a favor for their appointment, they can't do anything about the head of the intelligence division.]

Superintendent A submitted his resignation to the South Gyeongsang Provincial Police Agency through his wife over the weekend, but the National Police Agency is reportedly taking the stance that a high-intensity inspection takes priority over processing the resignation.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.