A Study on Public Conflict Management by Local Governments and Police Agencies in South Korea

Abstract

This study examined the organizational and practitioner capacities of local governments and police agencies in managing public conflicts in South Korea, and investigated the roles they perform as well as the challenges they face. To ensure accurate data collection and analysis, the study employed a combination of literature review, surveys, and interviews.
The literature review and interview analysis revealed that the legal framework, organizational structure, personnel, and strategies for conflict management are insufficient. In particular, local governments were found to have poor working conditions and inadequate role execution, while the police agencies' working conditions and role execution were evaluated as relatively better compared to local governments.
The survey and interview analysis revealed that local government practitioners rely on fragmented, short-term training programs, and even these training opportunities are severely lacking. In contrast, police agency practitioners receive significantly better training in both quantity and quality compared to their local government counterparts. However, it was also found that training opportunities for police agencies remain insufficient overall and have yet to reach an adequate level.
Additionally, police agency practitioners were found to possess significantly higher levels of conflict management knowledge, awareness, and attitudes compared to local government practitioners. This disparity appears to be closely related to differences in working conditions and training opportunities between the two institutions.
Meanwhile, insufficient legal frameworks, lack of collaboration, passive attitudes, inadequate training, and lack of expertise were identified as key challenges faced by practitioners. To overcome these challenges and enhance South Korea’s conflict management capabilities, this study proposes the following improvement measures: enactment of the basic law on conflict management, amendment of the Presidential Decree, development of a systematic training system, and perception shift regarding conflict management duties.

Date of Award	25 Jul 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Portsmouth
Supervisor	Mark Button (Supervisor), Paul Gilmour (Supervisor) & Iain Reid (Supervisor)