# National Security Act (South Korea, 2016)

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## CHAPTER I GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1 (Purpose, etc.) (1) The purpose of this Act is to secure the security of the State and the subsistence and freedom of nationals, by regulating any anticipated activities compromising the safety of the State.
(2) In the construction and application of this Act, it shall be limited at a minimum of construction and application for attaining the purpose as referred to in paragraph (1), and shall not be permitted to construe extensively this Act, or to restrict unreasonably the fundamental human rights of citizens guaranteed by the Constitution. <Newly Inserted by Act No. 4373, May 31, 1991>
Article 2 (Definition) (1) For the purpose of this Act, the term "anti-government organization" means a domestic or foreign organization or group which uses fraudulently the title of the government or aims at a rebellion against the State, and which is provided with a command and leadership system. <Amended by Act No. 4373, May 31, 1991>
(2) Deleted. < by Act No. 4373, May 31, 1991 >

## CHAPTER II CRIMES AND PUNISHMENT

Article 3 (Constitution, etc. of Anti-Government Organization) (1) Any person who constitutes or joins an anti-government organization, shall be punished as follows:
1. A person engaged in the function of a ringleader shall be punished by capital punishment or imprisonment for life;
2. A person engaged in the function of a leading member shall be punished by capital punishment. imprisonment for life or imprisonment for more than five years;
3. Other persons shall be punished by imprisonment for a definite term of two or more years.
(2) Any person who induces another person to join an anti-government organization shall be punished by imprisonment for a definite term of two or more years.
(3) Any criminal attempt of the crimes as referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2) shall be punished.
(4) Any person who prepares for or plots the crimes as referred to in paragraph (1) 1 and 2, with the intention of committing them, shall be punished by imprisonment for a definite term of two or more years.
(5) Any person who prepares for or plots the crime as referred to in paragraph (1) 3, with the intention of committing it, shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than ten years. <Amended by Act No. 4373, May 31, 1991>
Article 4 (Accomplishment of Purpose) (1) If a member of an anti-government organization or a person who has received his order, commits any act to accomplish the purpose, he shall be punished as follows: <Amended by Act No. 4373, May 31, 1991>
1. If he commits the act as prescribed in Article 92 through 97, 99, 250 (2), 338 or 340 (3) of the Criminal Act, he shall be punished by the penalty as prescribed in the respective Article;
2. If he commits an act as prescribed in Article 98 of the Criminal Act, or spies, collects, discloses, transmits or mediates any State secret, he shall be punished as follows:
(a) If any military or State secret is a fact, thing or knowledge which is accessible to limited persons to acquire in order to avoid an important disadvantage to the national security, and the said fact, thing or knowledge shall be kept as a secret against any hostile country or anti-government organization, he shall be punished by capital punishment or imprisonment for life;
(b) In case of any military or State secret other than those as referred to in item (a), he shall be punished by capital punishment, imprisonment for life or imprisonment for more than seven years;
3. If he commits the act as prescribed in Article 115, 119 (1), 147, 148, 164 through 169, 177 through 180, 192 through 195, 207, 208, 210, 250 (1), 252, 253, 333 through 337, 339 or 340 (1) and (2) of the Criminal Act, he shall be punished by capital punishment, imprisonment for life or imprisonment for more than ten years;
4. If he destroys any transportation, communication, building or other important facilities used by the State or public organizations, or captures or entices any person, or moves or removes ships, aircraft, automobiles, weapons and other things, he shall be punished by capital punishment, imprisonment for life or imprisonment for more than five years;
5. If he commits the act as prescribed in Articles 214 through 217, 257 through 259 or 262 of the Criminal Act, or damages, conceals, forges or alters any documents or goods of State secret, he shall be punished by imprisonment for a definite term of three or more years;
6. If he instigates or propagates the act as referred to in subparagraphs 1 through 5, or fabricates or circulates any false facts as to matters which threaten to provoke any confusion of social order, he shall be punished by imprisonment for a definite term of two or more years.
(2) Any person who has attempted the crime as referred to in paragraph (1), shall be punished.
(3) Any person who prepares for or plots the crimes as referred to in paragraph (1) 1 through 4, with the intention of committing them, shall be punished by imprisonment for a definite term of two or more years.
(4) Any person who prepares for or plots the crimes as referred to in paragraph (1) 5 and 6, with the intention of committing them, shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than ten years.
Article 5 (Voluntary Assistance and Receipt of Money and Goods) (1) Any person who commits voluntarily the act prescribed in subparagraphs of Article 4 (1), with the intention of assisting an anti-government organization, a member of such organization, or from a person who has received an order from the organization, shall be punished according to the examples as prescribed in Article 4 (1).
(2) Any person who has received any money and goods from a member of an anti-government organization or a person who has received an order from it, with the knowledge of the fact that it may endanger the existence and security of the State or democratic fundamental order, shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than seven years. <Amended by Act No. 4373, May 31, 1991>
(3) Any person who has attempted the crimes as referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2), shall be punished.
(4) Any person who prepares for or plots the crime as referred to in paragraph (1), with the intention of committing it, shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than ten years.
(5) Deleted. <by Act No. 4373, May 31, 1991>
Article 6 (Infiltration and Escape) (1) Any person who has infiltrated from, or escaped to an area under the control of an anti-government organization, with the knowledge of fact that it may endanger the existence and security of the State or democratic fundamental order, shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than ten years. <Amended by Act No. 4373, May 31, 1991>
(2) Any person who has infiltrated from or escaped to receive an order from, or consult an accomplishment of purpose with, an anti-government organization or a member thereof, shall be punished by capital punishment, imprisonment for life or imprisonment for more than five years.
(3) Deleted. <by Act No. 4373, May 31, 1991>
(4) Any person who has attempted the crimes as referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2) shall be punished.
(5) Any person who prepares for or plots the crime as referred to in paragraph (2), with the intention of committing it, shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than seven years.
(6) Any person who prepares for or plots the crime as referred to in paragraph (2), with the intention of committing it, shall be punished by imprisonment for a definite term of two or more years. <Amended by Act No. 4373, May 31, 1991>
Article 7 (Praise, Incitement, etc.) (1) Any person who praises, incites or propagates the activities of an antigovernment organization, a member thereof or of the person who has received an order from it, or who acts in concert with it, or propagates or instigates a rebellion against the State, with the knowledge of the fact that it may endanger the existence and security of the State or democratic fundamental order, shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than seven years. <Amended by Act No. 4373, May 31, 1991>
(2) Deleted. <by Act No. 4373, May 31, 1991>
(3) Any person who constitutes or joins an organization aiming at the act as referred to in paragraph (1) shall be punished by imprisonment for a definite term of one or more years. <Amended by Act No. 4373, May 31, 1991>
(4) Any person who is a member of the organization as referred to in paragraph (3), and fabricates or circulates any falsies fact as to the matters which threaten to provoke any confusion of social order, shall be punished by imprisonment for a definite term of two or more years. <Amended by Act No. 4373, May 31, 1991>
(5) Any person who manufactures, imports, reproduces, holds, carries, distributes, sells or acquires any documents, drawings or other expression materials, with the intention of committing the act as referred to in paragraph (1), (3) or (4), shall be punished by the penalty as referred to in the respective paragraph. <Amended by Act No. 4373, May 31, 1991>
(6) Any person who has attempted the crime as referred to in paragraph (1) or (3) through (5), shall be punished. <Amended by Act No. 4373, May 31, 1991>
(7) Any person who prepares for or plots the crime as referred to in paragraph (3) with the intention of committing it shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than five years. <Amended by Act No. 4373, May 31, 1991>
Article 8 (Meeting, Correspondence, etc.) (1) Any person who makes contact with a member of an anti-government organization or a person who has received an order from it, by means of a meeting, correspondence or other method, with the knowledge of the fact that it threatens to endanger the existence and security of the nation, or democratic fundamental order, shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than ten years. <Amended by Act No. 4373, May 31, 1991>
(2) Deleted. <by Act No. 4373, May 31, 1991>
(3) Any person who has attempted the crime as referred to in paragraph (1) shall be punished. <Amended by Act No. 4373, May 31, 1991>
(4) Deleted. <by Act No. 4373, May 31, 1991>
Article 9 (Offer of Convenience) (1) Any person who provides another person with any firearms, ammunition, gunpowder and other weapons, with the knowledge of the fact that he has committed or is to commit the crime as prescribed in Articles 3 through 8 of this Act, shall be punished by imprisonment for a definite term of five or more years. <Amended by Act No. 4373, May 31, 1991>
(2) Any person who offers to another person any money or other property interest, provides him with any place for concealment, meeting, correspondence and liaison, or gives him any convenience by other ways with the knowledge of the fact that he has committed, or is to commit, the crime as prescribed in Articles 3 through 8 of this Act, shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than ten years: Provided, That if he has a relationship by blood or marriage with the offender, the penalty may be reduced or exempted. <Amended by Act No. 4373, May 31, 1991>
(3) Any person who has attempted the crime as referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2) shall be punished.
(4) Any person who prepares for or plots the crime as referred to in paragraph (1), with the intention of committing it, shall be punished by imprisonment for a definite term of one or more years.
(5) Deleted. <by Act No. 4373, May 31, 1991>
Article 10 (Non-Information)
Any person who fails to inform a criminal investigation agency or intelligence agency, of an offender, with the knowledge of the fact that he has committed the crime as prescribed in Articles 3, 4, 5 (1), (3) (limited to an attempt of paragraph (1)), and (4), shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than five years, or a fine not exceeding two million won: Provided, That if he has a relationship by blood or marriage with the offender, the penalty may be reduced or exempted.
[This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 4373, May 31, 1991]
Article 11 (Special Dereliction of Duty)
If a public official who is engaged in the duties of criminal investigation or intelligence abandons his duties knowing that a person has committed any crime as prescribed by this Act, he shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than ten years: Provided, That if he has a relationship by blood or marriage with the offender, the penalty may be reduced or exempted.
Article 12 (False Accusation and Fabrication) (1) Any person who makes a false accusation or evidence against a crime as prescribed by this Act, or who fabricates, destroys or conceals any evidence, with the intention of having another person punished by any penal disposition, shall be punished by the penalty as prescribed in the respective Article.
(2) If a public official who is engaged in the duties of criminal investigation or intelligence, or his assistant, or a person who directs the said duties, commits the act as referred to in paragraph (1), abusing his authority, he shall also be punished by the penalty as referred to in paragraph (1): Provided, That if the minimum of the legal punishment is under two years, it shall be two years.
Article 13 (Special Aggravation)
If a person who was sentenced to a punishment of imprisonment without prison labor or heavier, for a commission of the crime as prescribed by this Act, Articles 13 and 15 of the Military Criminal Act, or Chapters I (Crime of Rebellion) and II (Crime of Foreign Troubles) of Part II of the Criminal Act, and for whom its execution is not terminated, or for whom not more than five years have passed after the termination of or exemption from its execution, commits the crime as prescribed in Article 3 (1) 3 and (2) through (5), Articles 94 (2), 97 and 99 of the Criminal Act from among Article 4 (1) 1, Article 4 (1) 5 and 6, and (2) through (4), Article 5, Article 6 (1), and (4) through (6), Articles 7 through 9, the maximum of the legal punishment against the crime shall be capital punishment.
Article 14 (Concurrent Imposition of Suspension of Qualification)
If imprisonment for a definite term is sentenced against any crime as prescribed by this Act, a suspension of qualification for not more than the longest term of the punishment may be imposed. <Amended by Act No. 4373, May 31, 1991>
Article 15 (Confiscation and Collection) (1) If a person has committed a crime as prescribed by this Act, and received any fee for it, such fee shall be confiscated: Provided, That if it is impossible to confiscate it, its equivalent value shall be collected.
(2) If an indictment is not made against a person who has committed any crime as prescribed by this Act, the public prosecutor may order the destruction of the confiscated object, or a reversion to the national treasury.
Article 16 (Reduction and Exemption of Punishment)
Punishment shall be reduced or exempted in cases falling under any of the following subparagraphs:
1. Where the offender surrenders himself after committing the crime as prescribed by this Act;
2. Where a person who has committed any crime as prescribed by this Act accuses another person who has committed any crime as prescribed by this Act, or prevents another person from committing any crime as prescribed by this Act;
3. Deleted. <by Act No. 4373, May 31, 1991>
Article 17 (Exclusion of Application of Other Acts)
The provisions of Article 39 of the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act shall not be applicable to a person who has committed any crime as prescribed by this Act. <Amended by Act No. 5454, Dec. 13, 1997>

## CHAPTER III SPECIAL CRIMINAL PROCEDURE PROVISIONS

Article 18 (Arrest and Custody of Witness) (1) If a person who is demanded by a public prosecutor or judicial police officer to attend as a witness of any crime as prescribed by this Act, fails to comply with it two or more times without any justifiable reason, he may be brought in compulsorily with a warrant issued by a judge of the competent court.
(2) In a case where a witness is brought in compulsorily with a warrant, if it is necessary, he may be kept in temporary custody at a near police station or other appropriate place.
Article 19 (Extension of Detention Period) (1) In a case where a public prosecutor requests it upon the proposal of a judicial police officer, if it is deemed reasonable to continue an investigation on a crime as prescribed in Articles 3 through 10, a judge of the district court may permit only once to extend the detention period as prescribed in Article 202 of the Criminal Procedure Act.
(2) If it is deemed reasonable to continue an investigation on the crime as referred to in paragraph (1), upon a request of a public prosecutor, the judge of a district court may permit only twice, the extension of the detention period as prescribed in Article 203 of the Criminal Procedure Act.
(3) The extension of the period as referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2) shall be limited to ten days, respectively.
Article 20 (Withholding of Public Prosecution) (1) The public prosecutor may withhold an institution of a public prosecution against a person who has committed any crime as prescribed by this Act, taking into consideration the matters as prescribed in Article 51 of the Criminal Act.
(2) If two years have passed without institution of a public prosecution against a person who has a public prosecution withheld under paragraph (1), no prosecution shall be made.
(3) If a person who has a public prosecution withheld, violates the regulations concerning the supervision and guidance as prescribed by the Minister of Justice, the withholding of a public prosecution shall be revoked.
(4) Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 208 of the Criminal Procedure Act, if the withholding of a public prosecution is revoked under paragraph (3), the offender may be detained again for the same crime.

## CHAPTER IV PRECOMPENSATION AND RELIEF

Article 21 (Reward) (1) Any person who informs a criminal investigation agency or intelligence agency of a person who has committed any crime as prescribed by this Act, or arrests him, shall receive a reward under the conditions as prescribed by the Presidential Decree.
(2) The provisions of paragraph (1) shall also apply to a person who is engaged in a criminal investigation agency or intelligence agency, and who finds and captures a person who has committed any crime as prescribed by this Act.
(3) In arresting a person who has committed any crime as prescribed by this Act, if anyone kills him, or makes him kill himself by any inevitable reason under resistance or in a state of hostilities, the reward may be paid according to the provisions of paragraph (1).
Article 22 (Gratuity) (1) In the case as prescribed in Article 21, if there is any seized Article, the gratuity may be paid only when a reward is paid, within the limit equivalent to half the value of such seized Article.
(2) Any person who obtains any money or goods from an anti-government organization, a member thereof, or a person who has received any order from it, and gives it to the criminal investigation agency or intelligence agency, may receive a gratuity within the limit equivalent to half the value thereof. This provision shall also apply in a case where a member of an anti-government organization or a person who has received an order from it, gives it.
(3) Matters necessary for the request for and payment of the gratuity, shall be prescribed by the Presidential Decree.
Article 23 (Compensation)
The bereaved family of any person who is wounded or dies in an attempt to report or arrest a person who committed any crime prescribed under this Act or in connection with such an attempt may be deemed the bereaved family of a military person or police officer wounded on duty or a military person or police officer died on duty under the Act on the Honorable Treatment and Support of Persons, Etc. of Distinguished Services to the State or a military person or police officer wounded in a disaster or a military person or police offer deceased in a disaster under the Act on Support for Persons Eligible for Veteran's Compensation and receive compensation accordingly, as prescribed by Presidential Decree. <Amended by Act No. 5291, Jan. 13, 1997; Act No. 11042, Sep. 15, 2011>
[This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 4373, May 31, 1991]
Article 24 (Deliberative Committee on Persons of Services of National Security) (1) In order to deliberate and decide who is those to receive a reward and gratuity as prescribed by this Act, and the compensation as prescribed in Article 23, the Deliberative Committee on Persons of Services of National Security (hereinafter referred to as "Committee") shall be established under the control of the Minister of Justice. <Amended by Act No. 4373, May 31, 1991>
(2) The Committee may, if necessary for the deliberation, demand an attendance with of the person concerned or investigate him, and after inquiring with any government agency or other public or private organization, demand a report on necessary matters.
(3) Matters necessary for the organization and operation of the Committee shall be prescribed by the Presidential Decree.
Article 25 (Provisions Applicable to Person Subject to Application of Military Act)
If a person who has committed any crime as prescribed by this Act falls under any of the subparagraphs of Article 2 (1) of the Military Court Act, the term "judge" in this Act shall be construed as the term "military judge of the military court"; the term "public prosecutor", as the term "military prosecutor of the military prosecutor's office"; and the term "judicial police officer", as the term "military judicial police officer". <Amended by Act No. 3393, Dec. 14, 1987; Act No. 4704, Jan. 5, 1994; Act No. 13722, Jan. 6, 2016>

## Notes

This work is a translation and has a separate copyright status to the applicable copyright protections of the original content.
* ↑ "Military or State secret" provided in item (b) of this subparagraph is not in contravention of the Constitution as far as it is taken as meaning a fact, thing or knowledge of substantial value which is not known to the public and, if it is divulged, may definitely threaten the national security, pursuant to the decision of constitutionality within limited scope which was made by the Constitutional Court on January 16, 1997
* ↑ This paragraph is not in contravention of the Constitution as far as it is applied to the cases where the said act may definitely threaten the existence and security of the State or free demo
* ↑ "If a person who was sentenced to a punishment of imprisonment without prison labor or heavier, for a commission of the crime as prescribed by this Act, Articles 13 and 15 of the Military Criminal Act, or Chapters I (Crime of Rebellion) and II (Crime of Foreign Troubles) of Part II of the Criminal Act, and for whom its execution is not terminated or for whom not more than five years have passed after the termination of or exemption from its execution, commits the crime as prescribed in … Article 7 (5) and (1) of this Act, the maximum of the legal punishment against the crime shall be capital punishment" provided in this Article has lost its effect pursuant to the decision of unconstitutionality which was made by the Constitutional Court on November 28, 2002
* ↑ The portion of the extension of detention period provided in this Article in relation to a crime as prescribed in Articles 7 and 10 has lost its effect pursuant to the decision of unconstitutionality which was made by the Constitutional Court on April 14, 1992