Police officers patrol inside a baseball park in the southwestern city of Gwangju on Aug. 8, 2023, following an online murder threat there. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 21 (Korea Bizwire) — Among the police officers in Seoul, substantial vacancies exist in the basic ranks primarily deployed for on-site public safety, data showed Sunday.
According to data received by Rep. Chung Woo-taik of the People Power Party from the National Police Agency, the agency’s count of sergeants stood at 5,691 as of last month’s end — 949 below the official quota.
Likewise, the tally for senior patrol officers was 5,967, falling short by 2,018 from the quota.
Notably, the vacancy count for the patrol officer rank reached 4,626, roughly half of the 9,535 quota.
Across all 18 city and provincial police agencies in the nation, the number of patrol officers fell below the official quota.
Within the patrol officer rank, seven regions, including Seoul, Busan and Daegu, reported over 1,000 vacancies each.
Regarding sergeants, vacancies were present in all regions except northern Gyeonggi Province; similarly, there were openings in all regions for sergeants, excluding southern Gyeonggi Province.
A key factor contributing to this situation is the rise in young police officers leaving law enforcement due to stress from public service and unsatisfactory working conditions.
The count of patrol officers, senior patrol officers and sergeants who resigned last year totaled 177, surpassing the 2018 figure by 51.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
