Serious Crime Suspect 'Mugshot' Disclosure Law Passes National Assembly Judiciary Committee Subcommittee

Disclosure of Photos Taken by Investigative Agencies Within 30 Days

A bill to expand the scope of crimes subject to personal information disclosure and to disclose suspects' mugshots (photos taken by investigative agencies at the time of arrest for the purpose of recording the suspect's appearance and clothing) has passed the threshold of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee, the standing committee in charge at the National Assembly.

At the plenary meeting of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee held at the National Assembly, Chairman Kim Do-eup is striking the gavel. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

On the 12th, the Legislation and Judiciary Committee held a subcommittee meeting and approved the enactment bill with these contents. The bill merges related bills, including the special law on disclosing personal information of suspects of specific serious crimes, which the ruling party and government had pushed to enact as a special law, and related bills introduced by lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties, into a single enactment bill. The bill’s title will be finalized later and submitted to the full Legislation and Judiciary Committee meeting.

There had been criticism that the photos of suspects released by the police did not match their actual appearance, leading to calls to enhance the effectiveness of the personal information disclosure system by disclosing the current appearance rather than past appearance in cases of serious crimes. Especially as a series of recent “random violent crimes” occurred, the ruling party and government announced plans to enact a special law to expand and strengthen the personal information disclosure system for serious criminals, and lawmakers from both sides have been actively introducing related bills.

The enactment bill mainly stipulates that for serious criminals, photos taken by investigative agencies must be disclosed within 30 days from the date of the personal information disclosure decision. It also allows forced photography if necessary. The scope of crimes subject to personal information disclosure has been expanded. In addition to existing specific violent crimes and sexual offenses, crimes such as insurrection and foreign exchange crimes, organized crime groups, explosives, arson of inhabited buildings, certain offenses of injury and assault, sexual crimes against children and adolescents, and drug-related crimes have been added. The clause “crimes designated by the Prosecutor General or the Commissioner General of the National Police Agency,” which was included in the proposal prepared by the ruling party and government, was removed due to opposition from the opposition party.

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