Law enforcement in South Korea

The National Police Agency, or NPA, is the only police organization in South Korea and is run under the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs. As a national police force it provides all policing services throughout the country. This differs from the situation in many countries including France, where policing is split between the National Police and Gendarmerie, and between countries such as the United States which have a layered system of National, State/Regional and/or local Law Enforcement organizations.

The NPA is headquartered in Seoul and is divided into 14 local police agencies, including the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. Local police agencies are not independent of the national police. There were 96,000 police officers as of 2004.

Local police agencies

 * Seoul Police Agency with 31 police stations and 24,736 police officers
 * Busan Police Agency with 14 police stations and 7,736 police officers
 * Daegu Police Agency with 8 police stations and 4,499 police officers
 * Incheon Police Agency with 8 police stations and 4,437 police officers
 * Daejeon Police Agency with 5 police stations and 2274 police officers
 * Gwangju Police Agency with 5 police stations and 3895 police officers
 * Ulsan Police Agency with 3 police stations and 1,829 police officers
 * Gyeonggi Police Agency with 30 police stations and 12,483 police officers
 * Gangwon Police Agency with 17 police stations and 3,694 police officers
 * Chungbuk (North Chungcheong) Police Agency with 11 police stations and 2,901 police officers
 * Chungnam (South Chungcheong) Police Agency 19 police stations and 5,808 police officers
 * Jeonbuk (North Jeolla) Police Agency with 15 police stations and 4,498 police officers
 * Jeonnam (South Jeolla) Police Agency with 26 police stations and 7,408 police officers
 * Gyeongbuk (North Gyeongsang) Police Agency with 24 police stations and 5,765 police officers
 * Gyeongnam (South Gyeongsang) Police Agency with 22 police stations and 5,589 police officers
 * Jeju Police Agency with 2 police stations and 1,282 police officers

Combat police
The Combat Police division of the National Police Agency is an anti-riot paramilitary unit, drafted from military conscripts. Its members deal with counterintelligence and riot policing. It was established in 1967, during the Third Republic. Each battalion is assigned to each municipal police agency in the country. In their riot gear, they can be identified by their signature metal riot shields which are numbered such as "1001" or "1011", and on their helmets with the NPA emblem. 2 weeks of training are taken by each draftee.

The Combat Police are deployed at demonstrations and rallies where violent disorder may occur. When such an event becomes violent they rush in and contain the protestors with long batons and often, their metal shields. When blocking the pass of illegal protesters, the Combat Police use the "Passive Formation", where the shields are held up to make a small wall. This is the most frequent formation used. However, they are trained to retaliate from the frequent attacks by protesters by angling the shield and pushing, or jabbing the shield at the violent person in this formation.

When they are ordered to contain a protest that has become too violent, such as the student group Hanchongryun's firebombing tactics, they use the "Offensive Formation". In this case, the shields are angled sideways, with the officers charging forward to break the riot. However, this formation is only used in extreme circumstances, such as in the POSCO strike where the striking workers used homemade flamethrowers against the police, resulting in several injuries.

Instances of police brutality have in the past been raised against the South Korean anti-riot units in particular, by the Asian Human Rights Commission, citing police actions of a "brutal and violent manner" that cause deaths among protesters, including Jeon Young-Cheol on November 24 2005. The South Korean President, Roh Moo Hyun, later apologised for this violence. The report also cites injuries sustained by protesters during July 2004 protests against a new military base for the US Army. The police force themselves reported that 117 officers were injured against 70 protesters, after being hit "with shards of broken bottles and flower vases". Injuries to the riot police officers have themselves become reason for protest, with one in every 53 officers being injured in 2005, the number of injuries having raised to 893 from 331 in 2000.

Special Weapon Attack Team (SWAT)
The KNP SWAT is a specialized unit to perform dangerous operations. The unit's main mission is counter-terrorist attacks, but also can include serving high-risk arrest warrants, performing hostage rescue and/or armed intervention, and engaging heavily-armed criminals.


 * Seoul Police Agency : 4 squadrons
 * Busan Police Agency : 1 squadron
 * Daegu Police Agency : 1 squadron
 * Incheon Police Agency : 1 squadron
 * Chungnam (South Chungcheong) Police Agency : 1 squadron
 * Jeonnam (South Jeolla) Police Agency : 1 squadron
 * Jeju Police Agency : 1 squadron

Historical secret police organizations

 * Korea Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA)
 * Agency for National Security Planning (ANSP)