On 2nd of August 2022, a new police bureau under the Interior Ministry was finally launched. This is the first time in 31 years for the ministry to have an organization overseeing the law enforcement agency. The government emphasized that the bureau is necessary to keep police power in check, aiming at reducing prosecutorial powers. Consisting of 16-person, the bureau is led by Senior Superintendent General Kim Soon-ho, appointed by President Yoon. Moreover, new chief of national police Yoon Hee-keun, who is also appointed by President Yoon, said that police power should be under supervision.
However, launching this police bureau has caused massive controversy in Korean society. The main opposition is that this is an attempt of government to control the police force, and it is severely violating independence of police force. Police had not been under the Interior Ministry since 1992 for the sake of neutrality, which has a thread of connection with the opposition mentioned above. There is also an opposition by some of the police force, also arguing that the police force should be an independent organization. Furthermore, some of citizens of Korea has opposed the launching, by signing up a petition against the establishment of police bureau, surpassing 200,000 people who signed up in about nine hours since the petition started.
Within this ongoing controversy, the police bureau has finally been established. The UOS Times assumes that how to solve this issue and how to operate this organization in keeping with the independence and neutrality of the police force should be an important assignment for the organization.