Japan's Asahi Shimbun reported that the South Korean high-ranking public officials' crime investigation department also searched correspondence data of a Korean reporter belonging to the Seoul branch.
The newspaper said today (30th) that the Ministry of Airborne Affairs had been collecting communication data from journalists, opposition lawmakers, and legal figures on a large scale, and reported that its own reporters were also included in the list.
According to the Asahi Shimbun, a Korean reporter belonging to the Seoul branch applied for information disclosure to the telecommunication company on the 20th to see if there had been an inquiry about personal information related to him or her by an investigative agency for the past year, and the result was notified on the 26th.
In the notice, it was stated that the Airlift Service had inquired communication data such as name, resident registration number, address, and mobile phone registration number twice in July and August.
The reason for inquiry was 'collection of information to prevent a trial, investigation, execution of a sentence, or harm to national security in accordance with Article 83 of the Telecommunications Business Act'.
The Asahi Shimbun said that it was not clear whether the Air Transport Agency had also inquired about the reporter's call history or the person on the call.
In the form of an opinion letter from the Public Relations Department, the newspaper publicly requested that the Public Relations Service disclose the reason and background for inquiring its reporter's personal information.
In addition, Asahi said in a related article that it is known that many journalists who reported critically of the Moon Jae-in government were among the journalists targeted by the Ministry of Airborne Affairs, and added that reporters were not included in the investigation by the Ministry of Airborne Affairs.
(Photo = Yonhap News)