國家情報院의 改革方案

A Reformation Plan for the Korean Central Intelligence Agency(KCIA)

Since the publicization of the KCIA's X-file and the entire incident of the illegal wiretapping, there have been suggestions demanding a reformation of the institute. This claim is in accordance with the power abuse of the KCIA that has been a concern for a while. The KCIA, as an intelligent institute, should be congruent with its nature and reform as following: First, under the principle of the separation of powers, the KCIA should transfer the power to control the another intelligent agencies and become a pure institute of intelligence. Second, there should be a clear division between the work of domestic affairs and the foreign affairs in the KCIA, while mutual competition and check system should exist in between. Third, the KCIA should be deprived of the right to conduct criminal investigation, for the right has a possibility of abuse, and is not congruent with the constitutional law. Fourth, a restriction on the KCIA by the government system is inevitably limited to controlling its budget. Therefore, the intelligence commission of the congress, with help from the Board of Audit and Inspection of Korea, should seek effective ways to control the KCIA. Fifth, irrelevant to the scope of work, the problems of the KCIA have occurred because of the method it used in action. Thus, there should be a clearer distinction between legal and illegal actions (such as eavesdropping and wiretapping) in order to diminish all illegal wrongdoings. In conclusion, the reformation of the Korean Central Intelligent Agency should be conducted along the lines of not only the policies but also the perceptions of its employees. It is most important to establish a fair device in terms of personnel shift, so that the employees can concentrate on their duty.