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It has been confirmed that a veteran police superintendent in his 50s, who has worked in the Gyeongnam region for over 30 years, is under internal inspection on allegations of sexually harassing junior female police officers. Reports suggest that his strong influence within the region kept the years of abuse from coming to light.

Morning Zoom-in, with reporter Son Gijun.

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SBS has confirmed through reporting that the Audit and Inspection Division of the Korean National Police Agency has been investigating Superintendent A, an official affiliated with the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency, since early this month over allegations including sexual misconduct.

The inspection team is paying particular attention to allegations of sexual harassment against junior female officers that took place over several years. Starting this week, the Human Rights Protection Division of the National Police Agency, which handles internal sexual misconduct cases, has also been deployed to the investigation.

The harassment reportedly occurred mostly during drinking gatherings. The number of victimized female officers identified so far exceeds 10, and this figure could rise further during additional investigations.

[Local Police Station Official : I understand there were many drinking sessions, and he built relationships very actively, managing his network well....]

A local police official stated, "The targets were not only employees from the same department but also those from other departments, and even female officers at district patrol units."

Superintendent A, in his late 50s, is a so-called regional officer who has spent most of his career spanning over 30 years working in Gyeongnam areas such as Geoje.

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 stated that due to his influence within the region, the details of the damage had not been exposed until now.

The police have reportedly also found circumstances indicating that Superintendent A had subordinate female officers sit with him at drinking sessions with key figures, including local businesspeople, where he subjected them to sexual harassment.

Following an SBS report last month on the death of a female 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 people of the opposite sex sit next to you or do things like that. That always leads to accidents. Young female staff 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 a superintendent-rank official—and placed Superintendent A on administrative leave.

(Photo: Yonhap News / Video Reported by Jung Kyeong-mun, Video Edited by Jang Hyun-ki, Design by Choi Jin-hoe)