National Security Act (South Korea)

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The National Security Act is a South Korean law enforced since 1948 with the stated purpose "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."^[1] However, the law now has a newly inserted article that limits its arbitrary application. "In the construction and application of this Act, it shall be limited at a minimum of construction and application for attaining the aforementioned purpose, and shall not be permitted to construe extensively this Act, or to restrict unreasonably the fundamental human rights of citizens guaranteed by the Constitution."^[1]

In 2004, legislators of the then-majority Uri Party attempted to annul the law, but failed due to opposition from the Grand National Party. Some poll results in 2004 and 2005 from the media cartel Chojoongdong showed that more than half of the Korean people were against the abolition of the act.^[2][3] A survey in 2021 had support for abolition of Article 7 of the act at 45% and opposition at 40%.^[4]

The South Korean constitution nominally guarantees freedom of speech, press, petition and assembly for its nationals. However, behavior or speeches in favor of the North Korean regime or communism can be punished by the National Security Law. In recent years, prosecutions under this law have been rare.^[4][vague]