One out of 300 Koreans Have Their Communications Records Tapped Every Year

It has been revealed that one out of every 300 Koreans is unknowingly probed by government agencies via wired and wireless phone conversations, e-mail and the Internet. In the past, most cases of invasion of privacy of personal communications were by tapping wired phone conversations. But with the advancement of communications technology, the tapping of mobile phones and the Internet records have become more common.

According to a report by the Ministry of Information and Communication on Sunday, in the first half of last year the number of cases of tapping personal communications records by national investigation agencies, such as the National Intelligence Service (NIS), the prosecution and the police, reached 77,118. In 2001 and 2002 the numbers amounted to 157,162 and 122,541 respectively. Thus, one out of 300 Koreans has been tapped by the government agencies annually.

In detail, the number of probes into mobile phone conversations was 50,703 and the number of probes into e-mail and fixed line conversation records was 15,367 and 11,048 respectively, the report showed.

The police topped the list in terms of inquiring agencies, recording 57,363 cases, followed by prosecutors with 9,618 cases and the NIS with 3,182 cases.

Meanwhile, apart from the tapping of personal communications, communications operators handed the private information of 88,736 subscribers to investigation agencies over the same period last year. With regard to the reference on private information, the inquiry on fixed lines increased 67.6 percent year-on-year, mobile phones increased 41.9 percent and the Internet increased 142.3 percent.

Cases of direct tapping into phone conversations, instant messaging, and voice box recordings amounted to 897 cases, a 14.9 percent increase from 781 cases in 2002.

Seong-Yub Ra cpu@donga.com