[Exclusive] Government to Submit Letter of Intent to Join the 'Budapest Convention' Within the Year

[Asia Economy Reporters Seongpil Cho, Sehee Jang] It was confirmed on the 28th that our government has decided to submit a letter of intent to join the 'Budapest Convention' within this year to respond to cybercrimes such as digital sex crimes. The Budapest Convention is a cybercrime treaty established in 2001 under the leadership of the Council of Europe for rapid criminal justice cooperation, and currently, 67 countries participate.

According to comprehensive reporting by this outlet, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs made this decision at a meeting with related agencies last month to promote joining the Budapest Convention. Joining the Budapest Convention has been promoted at the whole-of-government level for several years. The meeting last month was held as part of this effort, with attendance from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Police Agency, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, and the Ministry of Justice. At this meeting, all related agencies, including the National Police Agency, reportedly expressed their consent to submit the letter of intent to join the Budapest Convention. A government official stated, "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is preparing to submit the letter of intent to join the Budapest Convention within the year after obtaining consent from the National Police Agency, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, the Ministry of Justice, and others," adding, "Whether to join will be decided after consultations with other member countries."

Previously, the police have continuously sought ways to strengthen international cooperation in responding to cybercrime. The promotion of joining the Budapest Convention, an international regulatory framework related to cybercrime response, is part of this effort. As cybercrimes using online platforms are carried out not only domestically but also utilizing global infrastructure, the importance of international cooperation in crime response has increased, leading to plans to expand cooperation with international organizations, major foreign countries, and global companies.

In particular, in South Korea, voices urging the joining of the Budapest Convention grew louder after the so-called 'n-beonbang' case in 2020, which involved sharing child sexual exploitation materials. Due to the nature of digital sex crimes where servers are located overseas in online spaces, international cooperative investigations are necessary; however, at that time, our police faced difficulties in rapid investigation as South Korea was not a party to the Budapest Convention. If South Korea joins the Budapest Convention, it will be able to request data and information held by member countries and receive them promptly. Seungjae Hyun, a research fellow at the Korea Institute of Criminal Justice Policy, said, "Cybercrime transcends time and space, so it is not just a domestic issue," and added, "We need to expedite joining the Budapest Convention and respond at a transnational level."

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