According to South Korea's "JoongAng Ilbo" reported on March 29, after the shipwreck of the Sewol, the South Korean Marine Police Agency was announced to be disbanded after 61 years of creation, ending its mission due to "failure to fulfill its duties in the rescue process". However, South Korea's maritime security is under threat.
At present, in the waters of South Korea, organized crimes such as indiscriminate fishing of aquatic resources, illegal dumping of waste oil and other garbage into the sea, and drug trafficking are becoming more and more rampant.
After the dissolution of the Korea Marine Police Agency, it was placed under the jurisdiction of the "Headquarters" of the National Security Service, which was established in November 2014. At the scene of maritime control, "coast guard" became a banned word. On signs and official documents, the name "policeman" disappears and the word "guard" appears. The South Korean Coast Guard, which was disbanded after various twists and turns, finally moved its headquarters from the coast (Incheon City) to the mainland (Sejong City) in August last year.
Some voices pointed out that since the dissolution of the South Korean Coast Guard, the drastic reduction of the investigative and intelligence manpower for control has been the main reason for this phenomenon. In 2014, the Coast Guard's investigative and intelligence staff totaled 752, and has since shrunk to 314, a reduction of more than half. As a result, the number of maritime crimes seized fell sharply from 50,718 in 2013 to 27,031 in 2015.
South Korea's JoongAng Ilbo pointed out that the previous discussion on the reconstruction of the Coast Guard has been shelved, and last year, with the park geun-hye and Choi Soon-sudagy incident as an opportunity, the issue is ushering in a new situation.
Yoo Jin-yong, then South Korea's minister of culture, sports and tourism, said in December that "Park Geun-hye made her own decision without a discussion with the State Councilor before announcing [in May 2014] the dissolution of the Coast Guard."
With the president's girlfriend involved in politics breaking out and Park Geun-hye being ousted, South Korea is about to hold an early general election, and there are arguments that it is time to discuss whether the Coast Guard should be disbanded and whether it is necessary to rebuild the Coast Guard.
Moon Jae-in, a former representative of South Korea's Common Democratic Party, said that "the Fire and Disaster Prevention Agency and the Coast Guard will be separated from the National Security Division and will be responsible for land and sea issues respectively." Ahn Chul-so, a representative of the National Party of South Korea, also said that "the independent status of the Coast Guard should be improved by rebuilding the Coast Guard."
Three years after its sinking, the Sewol reappeared on March 23. Taking this as an opportunity, South Korean experts pointed out that in addition to denouncing the coast guard's crime of ineffective rescue of the Sewol, it is necessary to seriously discuss how to effectively operate the organization and manage marine security.
Roh Ho-rae, president of the Korea Marine Police Association, said, "Whoever is elected president must conceive an effective coast guard operation plan for the sake of national security. In addition, the Coast Guard must also go all out to regain the trust of the people."