Police are on duty in front of the Constitutional Court in Jongro-gu, Seoul on March 28. (Yonhap)
Police are on duty in front of the Constitutional Court in Jongro-gu, Seoul on March 28. (Yonhap)

With the Constitutional Court's ruling on President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment not expected until April, police tasked with guarding the court are reporting growing signs of burnout.

Initially, police forces prepared for a mid-March verdict, but the court has yet to announce its verdict date. This has led to more than a month of sustained high-alert operations around the court’s perimeter, stretching personnel and budgetary limits.

Since March 17, roughly 3,000 officers from 30 regional riot police units have been rotating into Seoul on four-day assignments to ease the burden on the capital’s units. They have been housed in business-class hotels, but starting Monday, they must commute from their home regions to Seoul and back in a single day.

The changes stem from a combination of factors, including emergency deployments to respond to wildfires in North Gyeongsang Province and the unanticipated delay in the court’s ruling, creating logistical and financial complications.

According to data submitted by Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Yang Bu-nam, overtime hours among Seoul riot police spiked dramatically from a monthly average of 80 hours in November 2024 to 92 hours in December following the Dec. 3 martial law unrest. They surged again to 113.7 hours in January when President Yoon was detained.

Of the 1.77 billion won ($1.2 million) budgeted under the official travel allowance, 1.36 billion won, or 77 percent of the budget, was spent by March 23, according to police data obtained by Rep. Yang.

Last week’s wildfires in the southeastern Gyeongsang provinces further strained police capacity, forcing riot police from the North Gyeongsang region to withdraw from Seoul operations.

The police have remained on high alert as the court’s final decision nears. Following the last hearing on February 25, law enforcement prepared for possible clashes on the verdict day, announcing a full-scale security mobilization under the highest emergency readiness status. All leave for officers has been suspended, and riot police have sealed off a 100-meter radius around the court with barricades and vehicle walls.


jychoi@heraldcorp.com