NIS Responds to 'Cybersecurity Law Concerns' as "Baseless Claims of Civilian Surveillance"

"Collecting Only Cyberattack Information, Not Human Data"

National Intelligence Service

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hee-jun] Recently, concerns have been raised that the enactment of the Basic National Cybersecurity Act (hereinafter referred to as the Cybersecurity Act), which the government has recently announced for legislative notice, could lead to the revival of the National Intelligence Service's (NIS) domestic information collection function. In response, the NIS has issued a rebuttal statement.

On the 11th, the NIS stated in a press release, "The claim that the enactment of the Cybersecurity Act would revive domestic information collection and likely result in surveillance is completely unfounded legally."

The NIS explained that the 'cybersecurity information' defined in Article 2 of the bill "refers to limited cyber threat information related to 'cyberattack acts or activities (such as hacking) against national security and national interests by international and state-backed hacking organizations, North Korea, foreigners and foreign entities, transnational actors, or domestic individuals connected to them,' which directly reflects Article 4 of the NIS Act."

They further emphasized, "This information pertains to cyberattacks, not individuals, and the claims about the revival of domestic information collection or 'civilian surveillance' by the NIS are not true."

Some experts have pointed out that the bill’s provision to establish an integrated cyber response organization within the NIS could make the NIS the control tower of cybersecurity and enable it to control portal companies. However, the NIS has also dismissed these claims.

Regarding the 'integrated response organization,' the NIS explained, "It is intended to establish a unified national response system and does not mean that the NIS becomes the control tower." "The integrated response organization is a cooperative body where the NIS, Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Science and ICT, and private companies participate on an equal footing, operating under the control of the Cybersecurity Committee chaired by the Director of the National Security Office and subject to strict investigation and supervision by the National Assembly."

On the 8th, the NIS announced the legislative notice of the Cybersecurity Act, which centers on establishing the National Cybersecurity Committee under the President. According to the bill, the committee is chaired by the Director of the National Security Office, and the government will establish and operate a unified response system for cyber threats, including notification and investigation. To this end, an integrated response organization under the committee’s control will be established within the NIS.

In response, Jang Dong-hyuk, secretary of the NIS Monitoring Network, expressed concern, saying, "There are hardly any fields unrelated to cyber, but since it is for cybersecurity, the information collected is very likely to lead to surveillance."

Previously, on the 8th, Lim Jong-deuk, the second deputy director of the National Security Office, stated at a forum, "It is essential to enact the Basic Cybersecurity Act with the National Security Office as the control tower coordinating various ministries," and added, "We will establish a whole-of-government system centered on the National Security Office."

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