When the National Intelligence Service (NIS) saw that the National Assembly's anti-terror bill was not going to be passed easily it went and created the "Interagency Terrorism Information Center" using a revision of the presidential directive of the state anti-terrorism action guidelines. The NIS has announced that it will be jointly staffed by personnel from the military, police, fire department, and other related government agencies. The national anti-terrorism command system will include the terrorism task-force (headed by the prime minister), the responsible standing committee, and the new center.
That accounts for the main parts of the anti-terrorism bill that has already failed to be passed several times over because of opposing public opinion. That is why it is only natural that the NIS is being accused of using roundabout measures to get what it wanted. The guidelines are classified, so people cannot even examine the revised content to see whether they are legally legitimate.
The anti-terrorism bill was first noted for having a lot of potential for civil rights abuses, but there was an equal amount of concern about increasing the NIS's authority because it made you wonder if it was having a hard time abandoning its nostalgia for the days when it was known as the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA) and the Agency for National Security Planning (NSPA). That much is recognized even by the ruling party. When the bill gained renewed interest in the wake of the kidnapping and murder of Kim Seon Il in Iraq last June, the ruling Uri Party said it would pursue its passage after issues about the NIS's command of the anti-terrorism center and the possibility for human rights abuses were resolved. Its pledge turned out to be empty words. The creation of this new anti-terrorism center, therefore points to the need for more control over the NIS by civil society.
No one will deny the need to collect and maintain intelligence about terrorism. Reports are that the NIS already has an anti-terrorism situation room in operation and that the Ministry of National Defense and Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade are also gathering intelligence. If the NIS was only interested in constructing a structure for interagency cooperation it should have debated out a resolution with civil rights groups. Its handling of the center project is even straining the argument that has supported its creation, because those arguments have held that without legal backing anti-terrorism activities will endlessly be criticized by civic groups.
The Hankyoreh, 2 April 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]
[Editorial] NIS Approach to ‘Terrorism Information Center’ |
