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| President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during a policy briefing by the Ministry of Justice at Yeongbingwan state guesthouse in Jongno District, Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap |
By Nam Hyun-woo
President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday hinted at his objection to the scheduled transfer of the investigative jurisdiction of espionage cases to the police from the National Intelligence Service (NIS) next year.
The issue has come to the fore in South Korea due to the unique nature of its spy agency. Most foreign espionage organizations usually collect information regarding foreign countries and their citizens. But the NIS has the authority to investigate South Korean nationals who are under suspicion of engaging in espionage activities especially for North Korea.
Conservatives want the NIS to retain that role, citing the threat of North Korean spies, while progressives want the agency to focus instead on intelligence-gathering overseas and let the police handle domestic investigations.
The NIS and police are currently investigating allegations that underground civic groups in Jeju and Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province were instructed by a North Korean spy, known as Kim Myong-song, to stage anti-U.S. and anti-Yoon Seok Yeol protests.
Also, counter-espionage authorities on Jan. 18 raided multiple offices of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, one of the largest umbrella unions in South Korea, on suspicions that former and incumbent senior officials of the union may have formed affiliations with North Korea's Workers' Party Cultural Exchange Bureau ― an espionage department that recruits South Korean sympathizers to Pyongyang.
Counter-espionage authorities believe that those involved in the cases contacted North Korean spies in foreign countries, such as Cambodia.
Against this backdrop, calls have been growing within the ruling party that the NIS should retain its anti-espionage investigative function, pointing out that the police lack an overseas anti-espionage intelligence network.
During a luncheon with ranking members of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), Yoon was quoted as saying that investigations into espionage cases require law enforcement agencies to have an overseas network, so the scheduled transfer of investigative jurisdiction has some issues to be further discussed.
This is the first time that the president mentioned the investigative jurisdiction of espionage cases.
Senior PPP lawmakers, including interim chief Chung Jin-suk and floor leader Joo Ho-young, exchanged their opinions on the matter during the luncheon, according to ruling party spokesperson Rep. Yang Kum-hee.
"The senior PPP members told President Yoon that there are issues to be resolved before the transfer of the NIS' anti-communist investigative function to the police next year," Yang said. "As seen in recent espionage scandals, those who are involved in spy ring cases often meet their North Korean counterparts in third countries such as Cambodia, thus we agreed that the matter needs to be reconsidered."
Yoon shared the view, echoing that the plan to give the domestic police force full anti-espionage investigative powers requires a thorough review, according to Yang.
The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), which has held a majority in the National Assembly since 2020, unilaterally passed a revision to the National Intelligence Service Act in December 2022, authorizing the transfer of the NIS' authority to investigate alleged communist sympathizers. The police's National Office of Investigation will assume that role from Jan. 1, 2024.
The DPK cited the NIS' fabrication of evidence in handling a number of espionage allegations. The PPP, however, claims that the transfer of jurisdiction will only hamper the NIS from exploiting its experience in counter-espionage investigations.
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