An interior ministry official takes down the signboard of the ministry’s Police Bureau at the Seoul Government Complex on Aug. 26, 2025. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — The Police Bureau set up under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety three years ago amid the controversy over political neutrality of police was officially abolished on Tuesday after a revised ordinance on its abolition took effect earlier in the day.
The ministry removed the signboard of the Police Bureau from its office on the 12th floor of the Seoul Government Complex in downtown Seoul, while 16 bureau officials dispatched from the police and the ministry returned to their original positions.
The government of former President Yoon Suk Yeol established the bureau in 2022, saying it was necessary to keep police power in check as police took on more investigative power from the prosecution. The abolition of the bureau was one of the election pledges by President Lee Jae Myung.
(Yonhap)
