A study on the development of the national police system under local autonomy

Abstract

On July 7th 1995, local autonomy was introduced on a full scale in Korea. This caused a nationwide realization that center-oriented ways of thinking and administrative systems should be boldly transformed into local oriented ways of thinking and administrative systems. Under these influences of localization, strong demands for change were made on the police system. Whenever there had been talk of government organizational reforms, the police organization has been a controversy between the ruling party and the opposition ever since it started out as the police department of the ministry for internal affairs in July 1968. The substance of the controversy was about preventing the police from politically misusing its authority, caused by its becoming the servant of the regime because it lacks political neutrality and independence, not about distributing police authorities to local governments. Thus, while the Law on Governmental Organization has been amended nearly 40 times, not once did it contain substance about local police systems. But as local autonomy is instituted, some opposition parties and local governments are advocating the introduction of a local police system on the grounds of political neutrality of the police and police service that is better suited for local circumstances.