Presidential Security Service Announces Legislation on Military and Police Command Authority Within Security Zones

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[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] The Presidential Security Service has announced a draft amendment to the enforcement decree that grants the head of the Security Service command and supervisory authority over military, police, and other related agency personnel performing security duties within the security zone.

According to the National Participation Legislation Center on the 15th, the Security Service announced the draft amendment to the "Enforcement Decree of the Act on the Protection of the President, etc." on the 9th.

In the draft amendment, the Security Service stated, "This is to legalize the operational basis for military, police, and other related agency personnel performing security duties within the security zone to prevent security gaps and establish a seamless security system to efficiently carry out security activities."

One media report noted that this is the first time since the Presidential Security Act was enacted in 1963 that command authority over public officials deployed for security duties has been transferred to the Security Service.

Although the military and police operate within the security zone, the fact that the head of the Security Service will have partial command authority over them has raised concerns that the authority and status of the Security Service have been elevated.

In response, the Security Service refuted the media reports on the same day, stating, "The reports claiming that the Security Service will newly acquire command authority over military and police personnel deployed for presidential security through the amendment of the enforcement decree are completely false."

They added, "The Security Service has already been commanding and supervising the security activities of military, police, and other related agencies to ensure smooth mission execution during security operations."

Furthermore, they asserted, "This amendment merely clarifies in the enforcement decree what was previously stipulated in internal guidelines and does not intend to strengthen institutional authority."

Military and police personnel are involved in presidential security duties. The claim is that the amendment only legally clarifies the command system previously led by the Security Service. The Security Service stated, "We expect that the legalization of the command system for security activities will enable us to perform our duties more efficiently in the future."

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