{"id":2205909,"date":"2024-07-24T17:27:55","date_gmt":"2024-07-24T08:27:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/?p=2205909"},"modified":"2024-07-25T16:20:06","modified_gmt":"2024-07-25T07:20:06","slug":"after-sue-mi-terry-south-korea-debates-need-for-crackdown-on-foreign-influence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/07\/after-sue-mi-terry-south-korea-debates-need-for-crackdown-on-foreign-influence\/","title":{"rendered":"After Sue Mi Terry, South Korea debates need for crackdown on foreign influence"},"content":{"rendered":"
Democratic Party (DP) lawmaker Park Sun-won proposed an amendment to the country\u2019s Criminal Act on Tuesday that would create a South Korean version of the <\/span>U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act<\/span><\/a> (FARA), seeking to crack down on foreign influence in ROK politics.<\/span><\/p>\n The U.S. FARA requires persons representing foreign interests to register with the U.S. Department of Justice and disclose their activities, and the debate about creating a South Korean equivalent comes on the heels of the high-profile U.S. federal <\/span>indictment<\/span><\/a> of scholar Sue Mi Terry for allegedly failing to disclose her work on behalf of the ROK government.<\/span><\/p>\n But while Park\u2019s proposal similarly targets foreign influence, the South Korean FARA it seeks to establish appears to have a broader scope than the U.S. version, criminalizing any act of exerting influence on public officials on behalf of foreign countries, according to a draft of the amendment provided by his office.<\/span><\/p>\n This could strain ties with its neighbors and allies if they perceive the amendment as targeted at them, and it could lead to more political squabbling between the DP and the ruling People Power Party (PPP) over what foreign powers have undue influence in South Korean politics.<\/span><\/p>\n K-FARA AS A POLITICAL CUDGEL<\/b><\/p>\n Park\u2019s proposal is not entirely new. Suspicions arose in Dec. 2022 about the presence of <\/span>clandestine Chinese police stations<\/span><\/a> in South Korea that were allegedly aimed at monitoring dissidents living overseas.<\/span><\/p>\n South Korea\u2019s <\/span>Criminal Act<\/span><\/a> outlaws acts of espionage that benefit \u201cenemy states,\u201d but this language refers only to North Korea, highlighting the need to address these legal blind spots.<\/span><\/p>\n From Sept. 2022 to Feb. 2023, DP and PPP lawmakers <\/span>attempted to amend<\/span><\/a> the law to cover espionage for all foreign countries and organizations, expanding the scope beyond military secrets to include various types of national secrets.<\/span><\/p>\n However, these efforts faced <\/span>opposition from the judiciary<\/span><\/a>, which cited potential conflicts with existing laws such as the <\/span>Military Secrets Protection Act<\/span><\/a> and concerns about imposing uniform penalties on intelligence agents from allied and enemy countries alike.<\/span><\/p>\n Now, the Terry scandal has drawn new attention to the issue and intensified political squabbling between the opposition bloc and the PPP as both sides seek to exploit the case.<\/span><\/p>\n A high-level official from the presidential office <\/span>stated<\/span><\/a> on July 18 that it would consider inspecting and reprimanding former Moon Jae-in administration officials when asked about Terry\u2019s alleged involvement with National Intelligence Service officers.<\/span><\/p>\n