A reshuffle of senior superintendents within the National Police Agency announced on Thursday has led to allegations that personnel decisions were made in retaliation for publicly opposing the establishment of a police unit under the interior ministry last July.

According to police sources on Friday, one officer took to an internal network to question whether Commissioner General Yoon Hee-keun had abused his authority with the transfers of officers that attended a meeting of police station chiefs that opposed the new unit.

Another officer criticized the latest appointments for being unprecedented.

The criticisms come as many of the officers that attended the July meeting have been moved to so-called "trivial posts."

Last month, Ryu Sam-young, a senior police superintendent who had led the station chiefs meeting, was suspended for three months by the police agency’s disciplinary committee.

An agency official, however, denied the allegations, saying that the attendees of the July meeting had not been confirmed.