"58 days of sick leave and travel to France for a month"...Jeju police, disciplinary action is only...

ⓒYonhap News Agency

Amid a series of criticisms over the lax discipline in public offices during the parliamentary audit of the Jeju National Police Agency by the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee, the case of a "fake sick leave" in which a Jeju police officer who took sick leave on the 58th visited France for a month was mentioned.

At a parliamentary inspection held at the Jeju Provincial Office on the 23rd, Park Jung-hyun of the Democratic Party of Korea said, "As a result of the special inspection of the National Police Agency's public service discipline, four Jeju police officers took sick leave and traveled abroad. They took sick leave on the 58th and France for a month, or took sick leave on the 29th and traveled to Europe for 10 days, but the disciplinary action was only "caution" for two out of four people."

In response, Kim Soo-young, head of the Jeju Police Agency, replied, "The disciplinary action was taken at the central office level," adding, "Two were not disciplined for reasons of daydreaming or psychogenic illness."

Other lawmakers also pointed out the lax discipline, mentioning various irregularities by the Jeju police.

Representative Yang Boo-nam of the Democratic Party pointed out, "If the complaint or accusation does not constitute a crime, it has happened that police officers in Jeju have been deceived as if they were agreed to return the case if they get the consent of the complainant or accuser."

Cho Seung-han, a lawmaker of the People's Power, also questioned, "There were police who manipulated human damage cases into simple physical damage accidents," adding, "This is nothing short of a crime."

Commissioner Kim replied, "We re-investigated the manipulated case, and these police officers were naturally retired or given severe punishment."

Rep. Han Byung-do of the Democratic Party said, "36 police officers from the Jeju National Police Agency have been indicted in the past five years. Compared to the 18 metropolitan and provincial police agencies, the percentage of prosecutors is the highest, he said. "It is a surprising crime such as drunk driving, violence, prostitution, and sexual assault, but 16 of them were not disciplined, and most of them were only subject to light punishment."

One lawmaker called on the police to pay special attention to discipline of public officials as well as strict and strong disciplinary actions that meet the public's expectations. Commissioner Kim bowed his head at the lawmakers' rebuke, saying, "I'm sorry."

Reporter Lee Yu Na from Digital New Team.