Police labor council claims officers forced to sleep on floor, eat bad food during APEC summit

Police were forced to sleep on the floor of rundown motels and eat subpar food while they were on duty at the recently concluded Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang, a council of officers said Monday.

Police offers deployed to the 2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang, sleep in the corridor of a movie theater, in this undated photo released by the Korean National Police Workers Council. [KOREAN NATIONAL POLICE WORKERS COUNCIL]

Police were forced to sleep on the floor of rundown motels and eat subpar food while they were on duty at the recently concluded Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang, a council of officers said Monday.

Up to 19,000 police officers were mobilized each day for the summit, but in some areas, accommodation and food were not properly provided, causing confusion on-site, according to the Korean National Police Workers Council. Police officers cannot form a labor union because they are public officials, but the council acts as de facto union.

The labor council on Monday released photos showing the accommodation conditions faced by officers, Yonhap reported. The photos showed officers in uniform sleeping on the floor, using cardboard boxes as blankets. Some officers were also found sleeping in front of large movie theater screens or along hallways with only thin blankets. Others reportedly stayed in rundown motels or remote inns.

“Some officers received blankets, but many got nothing," a council official said. "We had to ask people collecting waste cardboard to share boxes so officers could sleep on them.”

A police officer deployed to the 2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang, sleeps under a cardboard box in this undated photo released by the Korean National Police Workers Council. [KOREAN NATIONAL POLICE WORKERS COUNCIL]

Police offers deployed to the 2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang, sleep in a movie theater in this undated photo released by the Korean National Police Workers Council. [KOREAN NATIONAL POLICE WORKERS COUNCIL]

On the anonymous workplace app Blind, officers complained about inadequate meal provisions, saying they had to buy food out of pocket or eat cold lunch boxes in the chilly weather.

“The motel bathroom had no door and was made of transparent glass," one officer said. "It was embarrassing to even face my roommate. Even a jail cell would have partitions.”

The council said it will hold a photo exhibition titled “APEC event that turned police into the homeless” (translated) in front of the National Police Agency in Seodaemun District, western Seoul, on Tuesday. It plans to hold the same exhibition near the National Assembly building in western Seoul on Wednesday and Friday.

Police offers deployed to the 2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang, sleep on the floor in this undated photo released by the Korean National Police Workers Council. [KOREAN NATIONAL POLICE WORKERS COUNCIL]

The council criticized the way police officers were treated after being deployed to an international event organized over the past year by the National Police Precinct, Gyeongbuk Provincial Police and the APEC summit preparation committee.

“A full audit of the leadership, a thorough investigation, an official apology and measures to prevent a recurrence are needed," the council added.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom. BY JEONG JAE-HONG [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]