Lee Urges Police Reform and Independent Review of Investigations

President Lee Jae Myung called Wednesday for South Korea’s police to pursue forceful internal reform and for a separate system capable of independently reviewing police investigations, placing accountability at the center of the force’s expanded role in criminal justice.

Lee delivered the message in Seoul during a ceremony marking the 81st Police Day. He urged the police to examine their own shortcomings objectively and to move decisively against practices and institutional arrangements that need correction. His remarks linked stronger investigative powers with a corresponding need for outside scrutiny.

The call comes as the police take on greater responsibility under the Lee administration’s overhaul of the prosecution system. That reform removed investigative powers from prosecutors, leaving them responsible for indictments and maintaining those indictments in court. The shift gives police a larger role in the process through which alleged crimes are investigated and cases are prepared for possible prosecution.

Lee’s emphasis on an independent vetting mechanism highlights a central challenge created by that redistribution of authority: ensuring that police investigations can be assessed separately from the organization that conducts them. The president did not provide details in the remarks reported Wednesday about the structure, membership or legal powers of such a mechanism. He nevertheless made clear that greater police authority should be accompanied by a dedicated form of independent review.

The Police Day address also framed reform as an obligation for the police themselves, rather than solely a matter of new legislation or administrative restructuring. Lee called for an objective appraisal of areas where the force has fallen short and an aggressive effort to address improper practices and systems.

The remarks add an accountability dimension to the government’s wider criminal justice changes. With prosecutors now focused on bringing and sustaining charges, the quality, fairness and credibility of police investigations will carry increased weight. How the proposed independent review system would interact with police leadership, prosecutors and other oversight bodies remains to be defined.

For now, Lee’s speech establishes two parallel expectations for the next phase of the overhaul: the police should use their increased authority while undertaking internal reform, and their investigative work should be subject to an independent check. The design and implementation of that check will determine how the government translates Wednesday’s principle into practice.