Hangul 국가보안법 Revised Romanization Gukga Boanbeop | Hanja 國家保安法 McCune–Reischauer Kukka Poanbŏp | |
The National Security Act is a South Korean law enforced since 1948 with the avowed purpose "to secure the security of the State and the subsistence and freedom of nationals, by regulating any anticipated activities compromising the safety of the State." However, the law now has a newly inserted article that limits its arbitrary application. "In the construction and application of this Act, it shall be limited at a minimum of construction and application for attaining the aforemetioned purpose, and shall not be permitted to construe extensively this Act, or to restrict unreasonably the fundamental human rights of citizens guaranteed by the Constitution."
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In 2004, legislators of the then-majority Uri Party made a gesture to annul the law, but failed in the face owing to Grand National Party opposition. Some poll results in 2004-2005 from the media cartel informally dubbed Chojoongdong show that more than half of the Korean people are against the abolition of the act and, so, the dispute continues.
Purpose
The "anti-government organizations" the law aims to suppress have the character of "a domestic or foreign organization or group which uses fraudulently the title of the government or aims at a rebellion against the State, and which is provided with a command and leadership system."
In other words, the law made communism illegal. To that end, all of the following were made illegal: recognition of North Korea as a political entity; organizations advocating the overthrow of the government; the printing, distributing, and ownership of "anti-government" material; and any failure to report such violations by others. It has been reformed and strengthened over the past few decades, with the Anti-communism Law being merged with it during the 1980s.
The National Security Act can be viewed as a product of the Cold War and the national division of Korea. After World War II, Korean politics was polarized between left and right by the Cold War, forcing Koreans to adopt the ideology of being left or right. This created “one nation-two states” on the Korean peninsula. The resulting tension, which culminated in the Korean War between 1950 and 1953, pushed South Koreans to internalize and embrace anti-communist doctrines and brought about such legislation as the National Security Act.
This law has been acknowledged by some South Korean politicians and activists as a symbol of the anti-communism of South Korea's dictatorial First Republic and a potential restriction on freedom of speech since the law not only regulates activities that directly threaten the safety of the State but also punishes those who praise or incite an anti-state group. Indeed, according to a report written by Amnesty International, the most widely used clause of the National Security Act is:
Any person who praises, incites or propagates the activities of an antigovernment organization, a member thereof or of the person who has received an order from it, or who acts in concert with it, or propagates or instigates a rebellion against the State, with the knowledge of the fact that it may endanger the existence and security of the State or democratic fundamental order, shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than seven years
Administration
The South Korean High Court has a ruling history since 1978 that has classified 1,220 books and print material as "Enemy's Expressions" by force of precedence. Two state-established research institutes decide what books and print materials meet the criteria of "Enemy's Expressions": the Democratic Ideology Institute, established in 1997 under the direct orders of the Chief Prosecutor, and the Public Safety Affairs Institute of the Korea National Police University.
However, since the early 1990s, the Public Prosecutor's Office has chosen not to bring any citizens (or publishers) to the courts for what's deemed by common sense as not risky. Courts still invoke the law when increasing fines or years in prison for political charges against what the South Korean state deems subversive- in most of the cases pro-North Korea- groups.
Military
During the Lee Myung-bak government, some South Korean military officers were arrested for suspected pro-North Korean or pro-Marxist–Leninist activities.
Controversies
Some scholars and international organizations also have negative view towards the law. Some argue that National Security Act has been justifying the violation on human rights under the name of defense against the threat of North Korea and that it functions as an obstacle for peaceful reunification with North Korea.
Amnesty International reported that 90 people were charged under the law in 2011, increasing by 95.6% between 2008 and 2011. It criticized the National Security Act as a tool to " harass and arbitrarily prosecute individuals and civil society organizations who are peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression, opinion and association." and to " remove people who are perceived to threaten established political views, to prevent people from taking part in discussions surrounding relations with North Korea."
In 1998, Mr. Ha Young-Joon (하영준), a graduate student at Hanyang University formerly active with the International Socialists movement, was tried and sentenced to 8 months in prison for having summarized and made available online Chris Harman and Alex Callinicos's main writings on South Korea's national BBS network, in violation of NSA Article 7 Clauses 1 and 5.
In 2002, Mr. Lee, a new recruit in the South Korean army, was sentenced to two years in prison for having said, "I think Korean separation is not North Korean but American fault" to fellow soldiers. The Military Prosecutor's Office could not charge him for what he had said, but it searched Mr. Lee's civilian house and found various books and charged him in violation of the NSA under Article 7, Clauses 1 and 5.
In 2012, Ro Su-hui was arrested after he returned from an unauthorized visit to North Korea. The arrest was described by NK News as "a clear but unnecessary propaganda victory" for North Korea.
Other well-known uses of the National Security act include the 1999 banning of the students' union Hanchongryun and the 2003 spy case against Song Du-yul, a Korean living in Germany. The severest penalty that could be given according to NSL is the death penalty. The best-known example of death penalty is in People's Revolutionary Party Incident.