S. Korea sees jump in number of corrupt police

SEOUL, Sept. 28 (Yonhap) -- The number of South Korean police involved in crimes jumped nearly 21 percent in the first eight months of 2008 from a year earlier, the nation's top police agency said Sunday.

A total of 832 police officers were investigated in the January-August period for
their involvement in crimes, up 20.6 percent from 690 during the same period last
year, the National Police Agency said in a report to a lawmaker.
Policemen's involvement in such "intelligence crimes" as bribery, fraud,
embezzlement and breach of trust surged from 175 to 264, the biggest increase by
crime type, according to the report.
Violations of special laws against drinking and assault also increased from 329
to 398, it said.
"It is a serious problem of breaking the people's confidence in the public forces
that police officers are involved in crimes rather than defending the people's
lives and safety," said Kim Tae-won of the ruling Grand National Party.
"We need to establish tighter discipline among public officials while working on
measures to reeducate and improve working conditions for rank-and-file police
officers," he stressed.
sshim@yna.co.kr
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