Interior minister Lee Sang-min said he thinks the National Police Agency will investigate the "illegality" of a recent meeting of police station chiefs held in opposition to the ministry's launch of a unit to oversee the police.

At an emergency press briefing on Monday, Lee expressed regret over the unprecedented meeting that arose from an accumulation of misunderstandings and distortions about the objective of the new division.

Saying that past governments had covertly overseen police operations through the office of the senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, Lee said the law states that the president, as the head of government, holds authority over the police through his ministry.

Speaking to Yonhap News Agency earlier, Lee likened the meeting of station chiefs to the unofficial group of military officers that was headed by Chun Doo-hwan, known as "Hanahoe," a cadre whose meetings eventually led to the December 12 coup d'etat in 1979.

The minister criticized a particular faction within the police, an apparent reference to graduates of the Korea National Police University, for leading what he characterized as a systematic protest.