The Ruling Party Temporarily Postponed the National Intelligence Service Act Deliberation

Agreement Between Ruling and Opposition Party Whips to Continue Discussions

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jin-young] The National Assembly Intelligence Committee decided on the 27th to postpone the processing of the amendment to the National Intelligence Service Act for the time being. Since the Democratic Party of Korea had emphasized 'processing on the 27th,' it was expected that the committee would hold a plenary session in the morning and unilaterally process the amendment, but the committee decided to continue discussions through an agreement between the ruling and opposition party floor leaders.

Ha Tae-kyung, the opposition floor leader of the Intelligence Committee from the People Power Party, told reporters in the morning, "The amendment to the National Intelligence Service Act will not be tabled today by agreement between the ruling and opposition floor leaders," adding, "We will continue to negotiate for a few more days. That does not mean the Democratic Party's position has changed." Ha also added, "Regarding the budget bill, the review was completed today, and we plan to pass it. We also agreed to receive a briefing on current issues from the National Intelligence Service."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

A ruling party official from the Intelligence Committee emphasized in a phone call with Asia Economy that "the originally stated deadline for processing was the 27th," but added, "However, there is still room for negotiation, so we will continue discussions."

The opposition party protested, calling it a "bill that revives the Namyeong-dong Anti-Communist Investigation Office from the Fifth Republic era." Joo Ho-young, the floor leader of the People Power Party, told reporters after the morning floor strategy meeting, "The amendment creates a gap in national security and effectively abolishes anti-communist investigations," adding, "If the Democratic Party forcibly pushes the processing, the People Power Party intelligence committee members are considering resignation," signaling a strong stance.

The amendment to the National Intelligence Service Act includes transferring the National Intelligence Service's anti-communist investigative authority to the police and removing "domestic intelligence" from the scope of duties. The Democratic Party attached a proviso to delay enforcement by three years. Despite strong opposition from the People Power Party regarding the transfer of anti-communist investigative authority, the Democratic Party unilaterally approved and processed the amendment at the bill subcommittee on the 24th.

According to the Democratic Party, the current plan is to place the National Investigation Headquarters under the National Police Agency and transfer the anti-communist investigative authority there. However, the People Power Party argues that the authority should be transferred only after establishing an independent security investigation agency with separate budget and personnel, not to the police.

Kim Byung-gi, the ruling party floor leader of the Intelligence Committee, said at a press briefing on the 25th, "It is realistically difficult to create an external agency," adding, "Since this is the start of a huge new discourse, I don't think it is necessary to do this now for the separation of investigative authority, so I will not comment further."

Although unilateral processing has been postponed for now, it seems difficult for the ruling and opposition parties to easily find common ground. Ha told reporters on the day, "If an independent external agency is established, we can negotiate. But the Democratic Party is not agreeing now, so progress in negotiations is not being made."