Daegu police chief named to head Seoul police

SEOUL, Jan. 29 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak on Thursday named Joo
Sang-ryong, commissioner of the Daegu Metropolitan Police Agency, to head the
Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in a top-level reshuffle of the police.
The 57-year-old Joo, a graduate of Korea University, had served at key police
posts, including as investigation chief of the National Police Agency (NPA),
before assuming his current post in Daegu in 2007.
Joo will replace Kim Seok-ki, who was recently appointed as NPA chief but is now
under mounting pressure to quit due to his controversial command over a deadly
raid on squatters in Seoul last week, which left six people dead.
The reshuffle came though President Lee has yet to determine whether to dismiss
Kim in connection with the raid incident.
Cheong Wa Dae, the presidential office, said that the appointment of Joo was
"irrelevant" to the latest political development surrounding Kim and was made
based on a wide range of suggestions within the police agency.
"Today's appointment was carried out to fill a vacuum in the chain of command
that may surface from the retirement of NPA Commissioner Eo Chung-soo,"
presidential spokesman Lee Dong-kwan told reporters.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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