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SPEECHES & REMARKS
BRIEFINGS
Remarks by President Moon Jae-in at Strategy Meeting on Reforming National Intelligence Agency, Prosecution Service and Police
(Unofficial translation)
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is a pleasure to meet you. The people gathered here are very much appreciated. We have gathered today to examine the results of reform efforts at the state law enforcement agencies and to discuss what tasks remain to be done. All government authority must be used in the interest of the people. This is a solemn mandate given by the people that must never be forgotten for even an instant.
The people’s mandate is clear: They want a nation that does not permit special privileges and deceit, and they want a society that absolutely does not allow any unfairness or the slightest irregularities in everyday life. Since the inauguration of my Administration, reform committees have been established inside the National Intelligence Service (NIS), Korea Prosecution Service (KPS) and Korean National Police Agency (KNPA) with considerable results having been achieved.
The NIS has disbanded all units related to gathering domestic security intelligence, thus completely halting all of its political interference. The establishment of compliance officers and human rights protection officers has greatly raised the level of human rights protection.
The Ministry of Justice has overhauled personnel management systems for prosecutors and has taken measures to curb the practice of primarily prosecutors being appointed to important MOJ posts and to minimize their temporary dispatch to vacancies in other government organizations.
The KPS has reduced the direct involvement of prosecutors in investigations and has formed a specific department to protect human rights. At the same time, transparency and objectivity have been raised in the exercise of prosecutorial power.
The KNPA has been working hard to be reborn as a police force for the public: The freedom to assemble and demonstrate as well as the human rights of suspects under investigation have been broadly expanded.
As a result, since my Administration was inaugurated, not a single incidence of abuse of power or illicit collusion– which had been targets of harsh criticism in the past – has occurred at the NIS, KPS or NPA. Furthermore, the international community came to recognize the competency of the NIS, once it eliminated its political involvement and started focusing solely on gathering intelligence on North Korea and overseas issues. The NIS now stands at the forefront in supporting the government efforts toward peace. The KPS and KNPA will also be appropriately assessed by the extent of their reforms.
In addition, each committee has laid the foundation for these reforms as the NIS, Justice Ministry, KPS, Ministry of the Interior and Safety and KNPA have pooled their strengths to achieve significant results while codifying reforms. These include NIS reform legislation, new legislation to establish an agency to investigate crimes committed by senior government officials, legislation on coordinating the investigative authority of the KPS and police, and a bill to establish a system for autonomous local police. I commend and sincerely thank everyone involved for their hard work.
However, the expectations of the Korean public are very high. Reforms that satisfy the public have yet to be made. Government authority must carry good intentions. When government authority truly protects public safety and human rights, the people will all welcome stronger governmental authority.
The NIS, KPS, and KNPA must renew their resolve to be reborn as agencies that work solely for the people. They must devote themselves entirely to using the authority granted to them by the people and fulfilling their duties in order to ensure that society is as fair and safe as it is free and just.
This year marks special anniversaries for our people. One hundred years ago, our forbearers laid down the principles and foundation for a country of justice and a “properly functioning nation” when they launched the March First Independence Movement and established the Provisional Republic of Korea Government. This is our proud history – the restoration and proper establishment of the Republic of Korea by the people. Article 1 of the Constitutional Charter, promulgated on April 11, 1919, states: “The Republic of Korea is a democratic republic.” The Constitutional Charter of the Provisional Government was the world’s first national constitution to include the phrase “democratic republic.”
A century ago, our forbearers put their lives on the line to overthrow law enforcement agencies that lorded over the people and served the interests of government authorities. Prosecutors and police during the Japanese colonial period were in agencies that supported the coercive colonial rule of the Japanese Empire. The prosecutors, who were appointed by the Governor-General of Korea, were required to obey the orders of their superiors, and the Governor-General had the highest command authority. The police suppressed righteous army fighters and independence forces, cracked down on independence activists, and even monitored and controlled the people’s thoughts. As the phrase “sword-toting patrolmen” suggests, the public beheld the police in terror, for they held the power over life and death in their hands.
After liberation, efforts to reform the system and replace personnel failed because the police incorporated the same officers who had served during the colonial period. During the colonial period, executive, legislative and judicial powers had been concentrated in the Governor-General of Korea to support the repressive Japanese Empire. By contrast, Ahn Chang-ho, a leader in the Provisional Republic of Korea Government, said in 1920, “The President or Prime Minister is to be a servant for all the people.” We must always remind ourselves of the fact that the people are the only sovereigns in the Republic of Korea and that the Government and public institutions, Cheong Wa Dae included, and all public officials exist solely for the people.
We must make 2019 the first year in which we completely cast off the shadow of law enforcement agencies left over from the Japanese colonial period. Reform of the NIS, KPS and KNPA is not an issue of political motivation or benefit for the administration in power. It is a task of the times, to properly uphold the values of a democratic republic.
The codification and institutionalization of reform are what I wish to stress above all else today. We must, through legislation, permanently put into play the principle of checks and balances among our law enforcement agencies. The president, Cheong Wa Dae and government ministries, too, will be subject to these agencies’ monitoring and checks. I am also looking forward to the National Assembly’s responding to public expectations.
I earnestly call on you to adopt a broad point of view so that the NIS reform bill, the bill to establish a new agency to investigate crimes committed by senior government officials, the bill to coordinate the investigative authority of the KPS and police, and the bill to establish a system for autonomous local police are all passed before the end of this year.
I ask that you muster the strength for legislation to ensure that – even after a change in administration – the stature and duties of the NIS, KPS and KNPA that rest solely on protecting the country and the people are not altered.
Judiciary reform, too, is a task that can be put off no longer. The judiciary is the last wall of defense for the people, and so the public is keenly interested in its reform. I urge you to engage in serious discussions on the matter. We cannot wait for the legislative process alone. I call on you to continue to execute in a consistent manner the tasks that can be carried out within the Executive Branch.
The people are the driving force behind the efforts to reform law enforcement agencies, and the people will also assess the results. Reform must go forward, unabated, together with the people as well as buoyed by the strength of the people, until it reaches the level of the people’s expectations. Let us all go forward tirelessly together until law enforcement agencies become the people’s most reliable partners on the way to our becoming “a properly functioning nation” and a country of justice.
Thank you.
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is a pleasure to meet you. The people gathered here are very much appreciated. We have gathered today to examine the results of reform efforts at the state law enforcement agencies and to discuss what tasks remain to be done. All government authority must be used in the interest of the people. This is a solemn mandate given by the people that must never be forgotten for even an instant.
The people’s mandate is clear: They want a nation that does not permit special privileges and deceit, and they want a society that absolutely does not allow any unfairness or the slightest irregularities in everyday life. Since the inauguration of my Administration, reform committees have been established inside the National Intelligence Service (NIS), Korea Prosecution Service (KPS) and Korean National Police Agency (KNPA) with considerable results having been achieved.
The NIS has disbanded all units related to gathering domestic security intelligence, thus completely halting all of its political interference. The establishment of compliance officers and human rights protection officers has greatly raised the level of human rights protection.
The Ministry of Justice has overhauled personnel management systems for prosecutors and has taken measures to curb the practice of primarily prosecutors being appointed to important MOJ posts and to minimize their temporary dispatch to vacancies in other government organizations.
The KPS has reduced the direct involvement of prosecutors in investigations and has formed a specific department to protect human rights. At the same time, transparency and objectivity have been raised in the exercise of prosecutorial power.
The KNPA has been working hard to be reborn as a police force for the public: The freedom to assemble and demonstrate as well as the human rights of suspects under investigation have been broadly expanded.
As a result, since my Administration was inaugurated, not a single incidence of abuse of power or illicit collusion– which had been targets of harsh criticism in the past – has occurred at the NIS, KPS or NPA. Furthermore, the international community came to recognize the competency of the NIS, once it eliminated its political involvement and started focusing solely on gathering intelligence on North Korea and overseas issues. The NIS now stands at the forefront in supporting the government efforts toward peace. The KPS and KNPA will also be appropriately assessed by the extent of their reforms.
In addition, each committee has laid the foundation for these reforms as the NIS, Justice Ministry, KPS, Ministry of the Interior and Safety and KNPA have pooled their strengths to achieve significant results while codifying reforms. These include NIS reform legislation, new legislation to establish an agency to investigate crimes committed by senior government officials, legislation on coordinating the investigative authority of the KPS and police, and a bill to establish a system for autonomous local police. I commend and sincerely thank everyone involved for their hard work.
However, the expectations of the Korean public are very high. Reforms that satisfy the public have yet to be made. Government authority must carry good intentions. When government authority truly protects public safety and human rights, the people will all welcome stronger governmental authority.
The NIS, KPS, and KNPA must renew their resolve to be reborn as agencies that work solely for the people. They must devote themselves entirely to using the authority granted to them by the people and fulfilling their duties in order to ensure that society is as fair and safe as it is free and just.
This year marks special anniversaries for our people. One hundred years ago, our forbearers laid down the principles and foundation for a country of justice and a “properly functioning nation” when they launched the March First Independence Movement and established the Provisional Republic of Korea Government. This is our proud history – the restoration and proper establishment of the Republic of Korea by the people. Article 1 of the Constitutional Charter, promulgated on April 11, 1919, states: “The Republic of Korea is a democratic republic.” The Constitutional Charter of the Provisional Government was the world’s first national constitution to include the phrase “democratic republic.”
A century ago, our forbearers put their lives on the line to overthrow law enforcement agencies that lorded over the people and served the interests of government authorities. Prosecutors and police during the Japanese colonial period were in agencies that supported the coercive colonial rule of the Japanese Empire. The prosecutors, who were appointed by the Governor-General of Korea, were required to obey the orders of their superiors, and the Governor-General had the highest command authority. The police suppressed righteous army fighters and independence forces, cracked down on independence activists, and even monitored and controlled the people’s thoughts. As the phrase “sword-toting patrolmen” suggests, the public beheld the police in terror, for they held the power over life and death in their hands.
After liberation, efforts to reform the system and replace personnel failed because the police incorporated the same officers who had served during the colonial period. During the colonial period, executive, legislative and judicial powers had been concentrated in the Governor-General of Korea to support the repressive Japanese Empire. By contrast, Ahn Chang-ho, a leader in the Provisional Republic of Korea Government, said in 1920, “The President or Prime Minister is to be a servant for all the people.” We must always remind ourselves of the fact that the people are the only sovereigns in the Republic of Korea and that the Government and public institutions, Cheong Wa Dae included, and all public officials exist solely for the people.
We must make 2019 the first year in which we completely cast off the shadow of law enforcement agencies left over from the Japanese colonial period. Reform of the NIS, KPS and KNPA is not an issue of political motivation or benefit for the administration in power. It is a task of the times, to properly uphold the values of a democratic republic.
The codification and institutionalization of reform are what I wish to stress above all else today. We must, through legislation, permanently put into play the principle of checks and balances among our law enforcement agencies. The president, Cheong Wa Dae and government ministries, too, will be subject to these agencies’ monitoring and checks. I am also looking forward to the National Assembly’s responding to public expectations.
I earnestly call on you to adopt a broad point of view so that the NIS reform bill, the bill to establish a new agency to investigate crimes committed by senior government officials, the bill to coordinate the investigative authority of the KPS and police, and the bill to establish a system for autonomous local police are all passed before the end of this year.
I ask that you muster the strength for legislation to ensure that – even after a change in administration – the stature and duties of the NIS, KPS and KNPA that rest solely on protecting the country and the people are not altered.
Judiciary reform, too, is a task that can be put off no longer. The judiciary is the last wall of defense for the people, and so the public is keenly interested in its reform. I urge you to engage in serious discussions on the matter. We cannot wait for the legislative process alone. I call on you to continue to execute in a consistent manner the tasks that can be carried out within the Executive Branch.
The people are the driving force behind the efforts to reform law enforcement agencies, and the people will also assess the results. Reform must go forward, unabated, together with the people as well as buoyed by the strength of the people, until it reaches the level of the people’s expectations. Let us all go forward tirelessly together until law enforcement agencies become the people’s most reliable partners on the way to our becoming “a properly functioning nation” and a country of justice.
Thank you.
