Only 'Geoje King' Applied… Secured Position Despite Disqualification

[Anchor]

This is a follow-up report on a police superintendent in his 50s, dubbed the "Geoje King," who faces various allegations including sexual misconduct. It has been confirmed that despite the National Police Agency determining him to be unqualified during a position screening, he managed to secure the local post he wanted. SBS has obtained testimonies revealing that he even hurled verbal abuse and threats at the National Police Agency panelists who opposed him.

This is an exclusive report by Cho Min-ki.

[Reporter]

In 2023, while Superintendent A—who had worked almost exclusively as an intelligence officer in Gyeongnam province, including Geoje, for over 30 years—was serving as the head of the intelligence division at a frontline police station, a police organizational restructuring took place. The reform reduced and abolished frontline station intelligence divisions while transferring intelligence-gathering functions to provincial police agencies.

Superintendent A applied for the newly created head of the metropolitan intelligence team position at the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency. At the time, the National Police Agency formed its own screening committee to evaluate his qualifications.

The screening resulted in Superintendent A being judged unqualified.

The decision was attributed to his poor reputation, which included long-standing suspicions of collusion due to working exclusively around the Geoje area for an extended period.

Superintendent A immediately filed an objection, but a newly constituted screening committee dismissed it, confirming that there were no problems with the original judgment.

Although the identities of the panelists at the time were not made public, SBS reporting revealed that Superintendent A somehow found out who they were, contacted them individually, and protested.

Multiple sources stated, "Superintendent A unleashed unspeakable profanities and threatened them, saying, 'I won't let this go' and 'Let's see,'" adding that "given the severity of the matter, there were even arguments at the time that an internal inspection should be launched."

However, despite the National Police Agency's two consecutive disqualification judgments and the verbal abuse and threats directed at the panelists, Superintendent A was ultimately appointed as the head of the metropolitan intelligence team at the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency.

It was reported that there were no other applicants for the position besides Superintendent A. A local police official remarked, "There were widespread rumors at the time that Superintendent A had pressured others so that no one else could apply."

The reporting team attempted to contact Superintendent A multiple 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 irregularities in the process that led to Superintendent A's personnel transfer as the head of the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency's metropolitan intelligence team.

(Camera Reporter: Park Hyun-chul | Video Editor: Shin Se-eun | Designer: Park Tae-young)