DC Staff Says There Was No Raid on the Resident Blacklist, Why?

"Many Cases of Warrant Requests via Email and Fax"
Warrants Carried for Seizure When Cooperation Is Refused

"Did the police enter the company?" "No, I didn't see them..."

On the 11th, employee A posted on DC Inside that acquaintances asked whether criminal investigators had entered the company and taken various documents and disks. A said that did not happen. Although A was at the company all day, no movie-like scene occurred where police suddenly stormed the office and seized items. However, on the same day, Jo Ji-ho, Commissioner of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, stated that DC Inside was being searched in connection with the resident physician blacklist case. Is one side lying? The answer is that both are telling the truth.

The nature of searches and seizures is becoming more "slimmed down." When people think of a search and seizure, they often imagine police officers in black suits entering, presenting a warrant, and indiscriminately stuffing documents and computers into blue boxes and taking them away. The scene, where items are quickly swept up to prevent evidence destruction, looks like a battlefield being devastated. However, with changes in the times, the landscape of searches and seizures has also changed. It has become common to exchange search and seizure warrants via email or fax for convenience. When obtaining user information from internet companies, it is rare to physically take computers or servers. The companies or organizations submit user IP addresses via fax, email, or text message.

The police search related to the "resident physician blacklist" suspicion was also conducted relatively simply by providing the IP address of the post author. On the 12th, Kim Yoo-sik, CEO of DC Inside, stated that DC Inside received the search and seizure warrant from the police via fax. In accordance with the law, they provided the investigator with the IP address and account login information of the person who created the "blacklist" document. This is clearly different from the traditional image of searches and seizures where PCs and documents are lined up and taken away in blue boxes bearing the police logo.

Police are carrying out materials seized on the afternoon of the 1st from the Gangwon Medical Association office in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province. The photo is not directly related to the article content. [Image source=Yonhap News]

The police investigation aims to verify the authenticity of the Korean Medical Association (KMA) "resident physician blacklist" suspicion document. On the 7th, a document containing instructions to "create and distribute a list of members who do not participate in the resident collective action" was posted on DC Inside. The document bore a seal presumed to be that of the KMA president, raising suspicions that the document was produced under the KMA's leadership. However, the KMA Emergency Committee stated that the document is clearly false and announced plans to sue the poster for forgery of private documents, spreading false information, and obstruction of business.

The police sent the search and seizure warrant to DC Inside via fax. DC Inside also said that sometimes they receive search warrants by email. Evidence such as IP addresses was sent by email. Searches and seizures related to incidents occurring on the internet are often conducted through fax, email, or text messages. If you imagined a blue box and investigators in suits when thinking of a search and seizure, that is a misunderstanding.

Of course, there are cases where servers, PCs, and other materials are secured through searches and seizures. On the 22nd of last month, the Gangnam Police Station in Seoul conducted a six-hour search of the online community "MediStaff," where a post urging hospital resident physicians to delete data before resignation was uploaded. They seized servers, PCs, laptops, and other materials. Although the police requested cooperation to disclose the poster’s identity, MediStaff refused citing "member security." Consequently, the police used a search and seizure warrant to seize laptops and executive mobile phones. Based on the secured information, the police tracked and analyzed the IP address of the problematic post’s author and identified that the author is a doctor based in Seoul. The police plan to summon him as a suspect on charges of obstruction of business for questioning.

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