[2020 National Audit] Moon Administration Plans to Transfer Counterintelligence Investigation Authority... Police Counterintelligence Personnel Reduced by 24%

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] As the transfer of counterintelligence investigation authority, a campaign promise of President Moon Jae-in, is becoming tangible, concerns have been raised that the police's counterintelligence investigation organization is shrinking.

According to data received by Park Soo-young, a member of the People Power Party, from the National Police Agency on the 8th, the police's counterintelligence personnel and budget have decreased by nearly 25% over the past five years.

The National Police Agency, currently responsible for counterintelligence investigations, operates departmental organizations within the Security Bureau. The number of personnel, which was 625 in 2016, decreased by 23.8% to 476 as of the end of August this year. During the same period, the budget was reduced by 26%, from 9.1 billion KRW to 6.7 billion KRW.

Additionally, an analysis of data from the National Police Agency and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office over the past five years revealed that the police's direct role in cases violating the National Security Act has been continuously decreasing. In 2016, the police filed charges against 60 out of 167 individuals (35.9%) violating the National Security Act, but last year, this number dropped to only 12 (3.9%). Prosecutions also fell from 29 (82.9%) in 2016 to 5 (33.3%) last year, and among those, there was not a single case where punishment was actually imposed.

Representative Park stated, "Looking at the investigation status of the National Security Act over the past five years, there is doubt whether the police have been conducting proper security investigations since the Moon Jae-in administration took office," adding, "If the police are not conducting counterintelligence investigations with political considerations, their performance is at a disastrous level."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.