Police chief under fire for remaining in office

Published : May 12, 2017 - 08:19 Updated : May 12, 2017 - 08:23

Lee Chul-sung

Debate flared Friday over the National Police Agency’s Commissioner General Lee Chul-sung as he refused to resign and give way to an incoming successor under the new Moon Jae-in administration.

“I do not yet intend to offer my resignation,” the police chief told reporters late Thursday, dismissing the burgeoning speculations that he would step down as did Prosecutor General Kim Soo-nam earlier in the day.

The nation’s police chief is appointed for a two-year term but it has been conventional for them to step down upon the inauguration of a new government.

Lee was appointed to his current post in August last year, some months before the state scandal involving former President Park Geun-hye broke out to later trigger an unprecedented state leadership vacuum.

“When a new government comes in, it will be proper that I should offer my resignation. New wine must be put into fresh wineskins,” were Lee’s words upon inauguration last year, which some cited as reason for his resignation.

But to this, Lee explained that his previous words should be read within the given context back then.

His intention was to resign in February 2018 -- when former President Park’s term would have ended, if not for her abrupt ouster -- without making it to the end of his two-year term in August so as not to stay in office after his retirement age, according to the police chief.

Despite his reasoning, however, his plan to stay triggered some backlashes as it apparently ran counter to the new president’s move to refresh and reform the government organization.

Lee is largely considered a pro-Park figure, having served as presidential secretary for social security under the former president in 2014-2015.

(tellme@heraldcorp.com)