Court Decides to Keep Ministry of Unification Level III State Secret USB Confidential

The USB held by the Ministry of Unification has been identified to contain 'Level III state secrets.' It is claimed that the USB contains the same content as what former President Moon Jae-in handed over to Kim Jong-un, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of North Korea.

According to the legal community on the 21st, the Administrative Division 3 of the Seoul Administrative Court rejected the request to cancel the refusal of information disclosure filed by Gu Ju-wa, spokesperson of the Liberty Unification Party, and a lawyer against the Minister of Unification on the 17th.

The court ruled, "If the information is disclosed, there is a significant risk of seriously harming the nation's vital interests in sensitive and unpredictable inter-Korean relations."

The court, which reviewed the USB held by the Ministry of Unification in a non-public session, explained, "The information includes content related to North Korea policies or inter-Korean cooperation projects concerning the New Economic Map of the Korean Peninsula prepared ahead of the 2018 Panmunjom Summit."

According to the National Intelligence Service Act and security work regulations, it is designated and managed as a Level III state secret, defined as "secrets that, if leaked, may harm national security." The court did not provide detailed explanations about the USB.

Attorney Gu requested information disclosure from the Ministry of Unification, known to have produced the USB in April last year, demanding the release of the content delivered to Chairman Kim. The Ministry of Unification refused disclosure citing 'national defense and other national interest harm' under the Information Disclosure Act.