By Sohn JiAe
Photos = Hyoja-dong Studio

President Moon Jae-in spoke highly of the nation’s excellent policing capabilities during a ceremony to mark the 72nd National Police Day on Oct. 20.

The ceremony took place at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, the nation's beating heart where the candlelight vigils (촛불혁명) last year saw people take to the streets in a peaceful call for democracy and anti-corruption. More than 1,000 attendees were at the ceremony, including Minister of the Interior and Safety Kim Boo Kyum and Commissioner General Lee Chul-sung of the National Police Agency, as well as police officers and their families from across the nation.

President Moon said, “Tourists coming to Korea from around the world have cited ‘safety’ as the most satisfying factor of their travels here. Our nation has been designated as the country with the ‘safest public order in the world’ for the past two years.”

The president also mentioned the fact that the nation’s police force, and its overall security and safety systems, such as its cyber crime investigation teams, forensic technologies, the emergency phone number #112 crime-reporting center, and its smart transportation systems, have now been shared with 78 countries around the world. “All this was possible because of our 150,000-strong police force,” the president said.




President Moon called on police from across the country to further strengthen their counterterrorism maneuvers, as the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games draw near.

He said, “All of our police forces must protect visitors, as well as Olympians, from any act of terrorism,” as he vowed to make the PyeongChang Games as safe as possible.

“Our police have successfully maintained security at previous international sporting events, including the Seoul 1988 Olympic Games, the FIFA 2002 World Cup, the IAAF 2011 World Championships in Daegu and at the Gwangju 2015 Universiade,” said the president. “I ask the police to prove to the world once again, this time in Pyeongchang, that Korea is the safest nation in the world,” he said.




jiae5853@korea.kr