South Korea: The new conservative government is having trouble with President Yoon Suk-divisive yeol's plan to tighten his control over South Korea's massive police force, which is exacerbating a leadership crisis amid declining approval ratings.
The Yoon administration has established a police oversight bureau at the Ministry of Interior and Safety, drawing criticism that the action will erode the 130,000-strong nation's police force's political neutrality.
The bureau was established on Tuesday, but over 100,000 officers and about 65% of the country's 551 police superintendents have already voiced their opposition.
In a rare show of defiance that made news last month, 140 police officers got together offline and online to voice their concerns.
Superintendent Ryu Sam-young, head of a police station in the southern city of Ulsan, who organised the gathering, was suspended indefinitely by the National Police Agency headquarters after Minister of Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min denounced it as "military coup-like." The constitution mandates that police maintain their political neutrality. The political neutrality of the police is compromised by creating a police bureau under the ministry. Ryu told reporters last week that undermining their political neutrality would be equivalent to a military coup, which would disturb the constitutional order.
Until a student activist was killed by a detective during a session of torture in 1987, South Korean police were under the control of the home ministry. Widespread protests over Park Jong-death chul's compelled the military regime to accede to calls to reinstate democracy.
After receiving harsh criticism for using sticks and tear gas to brutally put down protests, South Korea's police force was released from direct government control in 1991 and placed under the control of the National Police Agency.
Yoon was a career prosecutor-general who worked for liberal President Moon Jae-in for the majority of his professional career before making a political U-turn and joining the conservative People Power Party last year.
Following his victory in May, Yoon appointed numerous former and current prosecutors to important positions in the government, prompting accusations from detractors that he was establishing a "prosecutors' republic".
Many of Yoon's political rivals, including Lee Jae-myung, who was narrowly defeated in the presidential election, have expressed concern that they will be the focus of investigations that are politically motivated while the Yoon administration is in power.
Both Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak, former conservative presidents, were imprisoned for corruption and abuse of power while serving in the Moon administration.
The liberal Democratic Party took advantage of its majority in parliament to force a bill through the National Assembly in May that significantly reduced the rights of prosecutors to initiate criminal investigations and transferred those rights to police amid concerns that Yoon would use his loyal prosecutors against political opponents.
The prosecution authorities will only have the ability to file charges against offenders to begin court proceedings under the new law, which was approved by parliament a week before Yoon assumed office in May. This will begin in September.
In light of this, the Yoon administration established the police bureau, which it claims is meant to "transparently and appropriately" command and control officers through the ministry given that the force has grown too large.
However, the establishment of the bureau was met with irate police protests and claims that the Yoon administration was attempting to undo the gains made through pro-democracy struggles.
Within hours of its launch, an online petition opposing the action had more than 100,000 police officers sign it.
To demonstrate their vehement opposition, many officers shaved their heads, went on hunger strikes, and performed three-step, one-bow ceremonies in the Buddhist tradition.
According to renowned political commentator Choi Jin, those in positions of authority frequently try to control the military, police, and prosecutors, the three main institutions of the government.
Yoon abolished the position of top presidential aide in charge of civic affairs at the presidential Blue House as part of reforms. This person previously had control over the police and prosecution authorities.
There are no longer any ways to manage the police, according to Choi, who said that the position of presidential adviser for civic affairs has been closed. "This is something I've never witnessed before. Senior police officers organised a group protest against a government action. Both the police and the president should take note of this.
The establishment of the police bureau, according to Yoon Sung-suk, a political science professor at Chonnam National University, brought back unpleasant memories for the president's detractors of earlier military-backed governments that used the police to repress political opposition.
Yoon's opponents believe he wants to tighten his control over the police before letting them loose to retaliate against rivals like Lee Jae-myung, he said.
This episode airs at a time when Yoon's approval ratings have been declining over the past few weeks due to controversies surrounding his frequent slip-ups, allegations of nepotism, ongoing scandals involving his well-known wife Kim Kun-hee, as well as high inflation, declining stock prices, and an overall slowdown in the economy.
Yoon's approval rating dropped below 30% for the first time since the May 10 inauguration as a result of the embarrassing publication of his contentious text exchange with Kweon Seong-dong, the leader of the ruling party's floor.
Yoon's approval rating was 28.9%, down 3.3 percentage points from the previous week, according to a survey by the Korea Society Opinion Institute, while disapproval was 68.5 percent, up four percent from the previous week.
After a text exchange between Kweon and Yoon was captured on camera by a news photographer, in which Yoon was seen backstabbing about suspended ruling party chief Lee Jun-seok despite Lee having helped elect Yoon as president and Yoon having publicly vowed not to meddle in intraparty politics, Kweon apologised and offered to resign.
Early in July, Kweon assumed control of the party as acting leader after the ethics committee of the People Power Party suspended Lee's membership for six months due to claims that Lee had engaged in sexual bribery and a cover-up.
Yoon remained silent regarding the text message incident prior to departing for a nine-day vacation that will end this Sunday.
Kim warns S. Korean military to be annihilated on pre-emptive strike bid
