The nation’s police chief plans to stake his police career on winning concessions in a government legislation, which the police see as severely limiting their investigative powers, a source said Monday.

“I have said several times before that I will not become a person reluctant to give up my position,” Cho Hyun-oh, the commissioner general of the National Police Agency (NPS), told Yonhap News Agency.

“If the Prime Minister Office’s final version of the legislation is confirmed and its content is unacceptable, I will offer to resign.”

The legislation released by the Prime Minister’s Office in November officially empowers the prosecution to supervise the police officers’ internal preliminary investigations that take place before an official probe begins.

The police agency strongly opposes the ordinance, saying it impairs their investigation initiatives and is heavily skewed in favor of the prosecution. Currently, the police and the prosecution are contesting who should lead in the preliminary investigative stage.

The adoption of the controversial ordinance requires approval from the Cabinet before going into force on Jan. 1.

The NPS’ No. 2 officer is also considering resigning in support of the agency’s protest against the legislation.

“National Police Agency Commissioner General Cho Hyun-oh and Vice Commissioner General Park Jong-joon openly said in a recent top-level police meeting that they will resign unless the presidential ordinance gets revised,” a source quoted the two police chiefs as saying.

“Now, they are at the stage of deciding how and when to carry out the resignation plan.”

The resignation offers will likely come around Dec. 22, when the ordinance is expected to be passed, the source said. 

(Yonhap News)