Installation of Facial Recognition CCTV Around the Presidential Office Under Consideration

Defense Minister Lee Jong-seop appeared at the National Assembly audit on the Ministry of National Defense held on the 4th at the Ministry of National Defense in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, and took the witness oath. Photo by the National Assembly Press Corps

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] Installation of closed-circuit (CC) CCTV with facial recognition capabilities is being promoted around the Yongsan Presidential Office building.

On the 20th, according to the office of Kim Byung-joo, a member of the National Defense Committee of the Democratic Party of Korea, the Ministry of National Defense has been carrying out a project to reinforce the boundary facilities of the Ministry of National Defense building since 2020.

As a boundary monitoring method, it was decided to install general CCTV along with tension detection sensors capable of detecting external intrusions, and contracts with companies were completed. However, in May of this year, when the Presidential Office relocated to the Ministry of National Defense building, the plan was changed to install high-performance CCTV with facial recognition and tracking functions for security enhancement, and contracts with companies were redone.

The Ministry of National Defense did not disclose the number of high-performance CCTVs or their installation locations for security reasons, according to Kim’s office. Due to the change in the boundary facility reinforcement plan following the Presidential Office relocation, the original construction budget of about 6.08 billion won increased by about 950 million won, totaling approximately 7.03 billion won.

Rep. Kim pointed out, "When walking around the Yongsan area, there is a risk of human rights violations as individuals' biometric information is exposed due to surveillance by the Security Office."

In response, the Ministry of National Defense stated, "The installation is inevitably being promoted due to environmental changes within the Ministry of National Defense premises during the boundary facility reinforcement construction process," and added, "The facial recognition CCTV does not have facial recognition functions that analyze a person's face to identify specific individuals."

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