With the nation’s top police office left vacant for nearly the past two years, a self-identified worrywart like me is left pondering whether an organization with structural layers of dedicated police officers can keep functioning.

Finally, though, President Lee Jae Myung has named his pick for the next commissioner general of the Korean National Police Agency (KNPA). He nominated incumbent Deputy Commissioner General Kim Jong-chul, in what can be seen as a safe promotion.

Vital to our security, police assume an ever-greater presence amid the Lee administration’s agenda of reforming the prosecution and law enforcement. Kim, who is to undergo a parliamentary confirmation hearing, grasps that “public expectations for the police are higher than ever.”

Kim, at the same time, said that he would address the increase in “hate” or “rage” crimes committed against random strangers and crimes between acquaintances and family members. While these types of crimes have been on the rise........

© The Korea Times