Legislation Committee Passes National Intelligence Service Act Amendment Transferring Counterintelligence Investigation Authority

[Asia Economy Reporters Lim Chun-han and Jeon Jin-young] The amendment to the National Intelligence Service Act, which includes transferring the counterintelligence investigation authority of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), passed the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the 8th.

On that day, members of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee processed the bill unilaterally without the participation of the People Power Party (PPP) members. The PPP members had previously refused to attend in protest after the DPK unilaterally processed the amendment to the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Office (HOCI) Act in the committee.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The amendment to the NIS Act includes transferring the NIS's counterintelligence investigation authority to other agencies, but delays the implementation by three years. To prohibit the NIS from collecting domestic intelligence, concepts such as domestic security intelligence and counterintelligence were removed from the scope of duties, limiting it to the collection, analysis, and distribution of information related to overseas and North Korea, cybersecurity, and satellite asset information.

Additionally, the amendment includes provisions banning the establishment of organizations for collecting and analyzing information to eradicate the NIS's involvement in domestic politics.

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