Administration and Home Affairs Minister and Police in Conflict on Public Security Research

There is controversy over the disagreement between the Minister of Government Administration and Home Affairs and the police regarding the continuation of inspection duty over pro-communist manifestations that are being carried out by the Public Security Research Institute (PSRI) run by the Korea National Police University.

Minister Huh Sung-gwan of the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs (MOGAHA) said that he will immediately shut down PSRI’s inspection operations on evidence from violations of the National Security Law (NSL) on October 22.

When Minister Huh was asked by Assemblyman Choi Kyu-shik of the Uri Party on whether he “intends to suspend the PSRI’s inspection operations on pro-communist manifestations at once,” he said, “I’ll suspend [the operations]. I’ll have it so that this work is not performed anymore.”

Minister Huh said, “The Enforcement Ordinance [related to PSRI] should be revised first,” and added, “A private expert will be put in charge of the [inspection] duty [after the amendment on the enforcement ordinance is made].”

The third clause of Article 24 in the “Service Regulations of the National Police Agency and its Auxiliary Organs,” a presidential decree, stipulates that the work to be done by PSRI is as follows: to research on leftist ideology including communism and develop countering theories; to inspect evidences from violations of the NSL; and to carry out other research on political ideologies related to national security and devise countermeasures.

The police, however, relayed to Minister Huh an opinion against his announcement saying, “It is not possible to put an immediate suspension on the PSRI’s inspection operations.”

An official in the Police Agency points out, “As a long-term plan to convert PSRI into a research institution that is genuinely devoted to academic research, an abrupt stop to the operations without any alternative plans will present difficulties in prosecute offenders in violation with the NSL.”

PSRI, which was established in 1988, now consists of 14 public officials with special experience working as researchers, including the current head of the PSRI, three police officers, and four technicians. The inspection reports presented by the institutions were adopted as influential evidence in various trials regarding criminals posing threat to the national security.

PSRI, which inspects over 7,000 cases per year, once founded publications such as “Korean Contemporary History Revisited,” the novel “The Mountain Range of Taebak,” and other works as pro-communist and leftist.

Hyun-Doo Lee ruchi@donga.com needjung@donga.com