Legislative Green Light for Public Release of Mugshots of Serious Criminals Without Consent

Scheduled for the full meeting of the Judiciary Committee on the 18th
Expected to pass the plenary session on the 21st

There is a prospect that so-called 'mugshots' taken by investigative agencies at the time of arrest of serious criminals may be disclosed without the consent of the suspects.

According to the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the 13th, the committee is currently merging related amendment bills that passed the subcommittee the day before. The amendments are scheduled to be submitted to the full committee meeting on the 18th.

Choi Yoon-jong (left) and Lee Seok-jun, who agreed to the release of their mugshots

At the first subcommittee on bill examination, a total of 17 bills, including the "Amendment to the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Specific Violent Crimes," the "Amendment to the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Violence Crimes," the "Bill on Disclosure of Personal Information of Suspects of Specific Serious Crimes," and the "Bill on Disclosure of Personal Information of Suspects for Specific Crimes," were passed the day before.

Once the bill is passed, the scope of crimes subject to personal information disclosure will be expanded from the existing specific violent crimes and sexual violence crimes to include rebellion, foreign exchange crimes, organized crime groups, sexual crimes against children and adolescents, drugs, and explosives.

Also, mugshots can be disclosed without consent, and investigative agencies will be able to forcibly take photographs if necessary. If a decision of non-prosecution, dismissal, or a not guilty verdict is finalized after the disclosure of personal information, separate provisions for criminal compensation will be established.

As violent crimes targeting unspecified many have been rampant recently, there has been a continuous demand to enhance the effectiveness of personal information disclosure. In particular, it has been pointed out as a problem that mugshots cannot be disclosed if the suspect refuses, and that the photos of suspects disclosed by investigative agencies differ from their actual appearance. When disclosure was refused, personal information disclosure was substituted with the suspect's ID photo.

The subcommittee resolved to merge the bills into one and create a committee alternative. Once the new bill's title and alternative are finalized, it is expected to be deliberated and approved at the full committee meeting and then processed at the plenary session on the 21st. After going through the procedures, the law will be enforced starting January next year.

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