Police will be required to videotape the entire interrogation of suspects in major crimes, officials said Monday, in a response to a recent scandal in which police were accused of torturing suspects to force confessions.
"Police officers may treat suspects more severely in drug-related crimes or theft to investigate their additional crimes," an official from the National Police Agency (NPA) said.
"The NPA will make it mandatory for local police stations to question the suspects in video-taped interrogation rooms."
Four police officers in Seoul were arrested last month for beating and torturing criminal suspects after they petitioned with the country's human rights panel.
Each local police station has at least two closed-circuit cameras in an interrogation room, and the videotaped footage cannot be deleted, according to officials. The rooms have been used limitedly, for investigation of high-profile cases or heavy crimes, they said.
Currently, there are not enough interrogation rooms nationwide, according to the officials. It costs up to 20 million won (US$16,000) to build such a room and install a video camera.
The NPA said it will spend some 600 million won to build more camera-equipped rooms, increasing the number from 472 to 1,472.
"We will first make police officers use the special room when they question theft and drug trafficking suspects, and extend its use to other
crimes in order to eradicate cruel conducts at police stations," said the official.