4572 National Intelligence Service Inquiries on Calls and Emails... 101 More Cases Compared to Last Year

4572 Cases of Communication Restrictions in the First Half of This Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] The number of cases in which investigative agencies such as the National Intelligence Service (NIS) accessed voice calls and email information of communication subscribers due to concerns over serious crimes reached 4,572 in the first half of this year. This is an increase of 101 cases compared to 4,471 cases a year ago.

According to the Ministry of Science and ICT on the 18th, the "communication restriction measure," which allows investigative agencies such as prosecutors, police, and the NIS to obtain voice call contents and email information, was used 4,572 times (based on phone numbers) in the first half of this year. This represents an increase of 93 cases (2.1%) compared to the previous year across all investigative agencies. Communication restriction measures can be obtained from telecommunications companies by investigative agencies with court approval when there is concern over serious crimes such as treason or crimes related to explosives.

By agency, the NIS conducted 4,572 communication restriction measures, an increase of 101 cases compared to a year ago. The police recorded zero cases, a decrease of 8 cases from a year ago. In the first half of this year, prosecutors, police, and military investigative agencies did not carry out any communication restriction measures; only the NIS used this system.

Status of Institutions Using Communication Restriction Measures

Additionally, the number of cases accessing communication data and communication fact confirmation data decreased. The number of communication data cases provided to investigative agencies was 247,466, showing a 7.8% decrease compared to the previous year. Here, communication data refers to basic information such as the subscriber's name and personal details. According to the Telecommunications Business Act, investigative agencies can request basic subscriber information from telecommunications companies as needed for criminal investigations.

The number of requests for call or text transmission times, call durations, and originating base station locations also decreased by 8.6% compared to a year ago, totaling 22,718 cases. Such information can be obtained from telecommunications companies with court approval under the Protection of Communications Secrets Act.

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