After final month’s Asia-Pacific Financial Cooperation (APEC) occasions in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, which noticed as much as 19,000 law enforcement officials deployed each day from throughout the nation, Kim Keon-pyo, director of the Korean Nationwide Police Employees Council, mentioned the experiences he obtained from officers on the bottom have been removed from commendable.
“They mentioned they have been handled like homeless individuals,” Kim instructed The Korea Occasions.
Angered by their accounts, Kim started gathering photographs of the poor working situations officers confronted through the APEC occasions. The council is now holding a photograph exhibition in Seoul this week displaying these situations, sparking criticism of the therapy of deployed officers and renewed requires higher working situations.
On Tuesday, photographs displayed outdoors the Nationwide Police Company in Seoul’s Seodaemun District confirmed the meager meals offered to officers and police standing by in a movie show.
The council plans to carry extra exhibitions in entrance of the Nationwide Meeting on Wednesday and Friday.
Among the many photographs have been photos of meals served to some officers — a scene acquainted to Kim Kyung-sik, one other council director who was deployed to Gyeongju.
“The meal on responsibility was simply rice, dried seaweed flakes and fish,” Kim recalled. “We have been instructed every meal price 10,000 received ($6.84), however the high quality didn’t mirror that.”
“I’ve been a police officer for 35 years,” he added. “It was the identical 35 years in the past, and nothing has modified since.”
Lunch offered to some law enforcement officials deployed throughout this yr’s Asia-Pacific Financial Cooperation summit occasions in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, is seen on this file photograph. Courtesy of the Korean Nationwide Police Employees’ Council
The police officer who took the photograph of the meal mentioned he snapped it as a result of he was stunned by its poor high quality.
“There wasn’t even kimchi, and the fish was horrible,” he mentioned on situation of anonymity. “Nonetheless, we have been higher off than others. Some officers got sandwiches close to or previous their expiration dates. When the identical fish was served once more, I simply purchased my very own meals.”
He added that, in his view, this yr’s APEC summit failed by way of VIP safety.
He mentioned he was stationed at a resort the place Chinese language President Xi Jinping was staying, however officers’ magnetic ID badges typically fell off, creating potential safety dangers.
“Fairly a couple of officers misplaced their ID badges,” he mentioned. “Whereas civilians may hardly strategy the realm, anybody with that badge may have reached the flooring the place Xi was staying.”
He additionally described poor situations at a youth hostel used as a standby web site, saying it was extraordinarily cramped.
“I needed to share a tiny room with three different officers whom I’d by no means met earlier than, and there was just one mattress,” he mentioned. “I ended up ready on a police bus as an alternative.”
Law enforcement officials deployed for this yr’s Asia-Pacific Financial Cooperation occasions in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, relaxation in a movie show on this file photograph. Courtesy of the Korean Nationwide Police Employees’ Council
One other police officer, who was on standby at a movie show, mentioned on situation of anonymity that the carpet there was “the worst I’ve ever seen.”
“The photograph I took on the movie show doesn’t present how unhealthy it actually was. The ground was coated with darkish stains and dirt that rose each time I walked,” he mentioned.
The Nationwide Police Company mentioned Monday it regretted the poor working situations confronted by deployed officers and was searching for to make clear among the particulars.
The company added that it rented standby websites equivalent to theaters and resorts however struggled to safe sufficient massive indoor areas in Gyeongju.
Concerning the photograph exhibiting officers sleeping within the movie show, it defined that whereas buses have been used as standby websites, some officers who discovered them uncomfortable selected to relaxation there.
The company added that it distributed roughly 10,500 blankets and put in greater than 530 folding beds at standby websites for officers.
In the meantime, Prime Minister Kim Min-seok on Monday ordered an investigation into the experiences of poor working situations.
“The prime minister expressed sympathy to officers who confronted tough environments at occasion websites,” the Workplace for Authorities Coverage Coordination mentioned Monday. “He ordered the Nationwide Police Company to submit an in depth report and devise sensible measures to stop a recurrence.”
