



By Lee Kyung-min



The Constitutional Court will hold a hearing next month to review whether the law governing details of "packet sniffing" violates an individual's right to privacy and freedom.



Packet sniffing, otherwise known as network monitoring or network analyzing, is used by a network or system administrator to troubleshoot network traffic.



Packet sniffers with access to its host computer can intercept, log network traffic and can see username and passwords as well as messages exchanged via wired or wireless network interfaces in real-time.



In Korea, most of the "sniffing" was conducted by the spy agency, which has long used the method to monitor anti-state activities of "North Korea sympathizers."



Police and the prosecution often use it, but NIS is known to be the most frequent user.



The hearing comes nearly two years after an earlier long-dragged-out case ended without a court ruling in February 2016 after the petitioner, surnamed Kim, died of liver cancer.



Kim, a former member of the Korea Teachers & Education Workers' Union (KTU), filed the Constitutional appeal in March 2011 after the NIS "packet-sniffed" his landline internet connection between December 2010 and February 2011. NIS conducted the operation after the Seoul Central District Court (SCDC) issued a warrant. Kim claimed his right to privacy and having free telecommunications was violated.



Kim came under NIS monitoring after he stood trial for having his students attend an event commemorating figures that refused to give up their ideological and political orientation supporting North Korea including North Korea spies and captured North Korean soldiers.



Kim was also alleged to have uploaded pro-North Korea materials online intending to share it, a charge for which he was convicted.



The Constitutional Court at the time did not make a ruling, saying his right to freedom and privacy could not be breached and therefore did not require a further deliberation following his death.



But the politically sensitive issue was taken to the court in March, jointly by five liberal organizations including Minbyun, or Lawyers for a Democratic Society, People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy and Jinbonet, a human rights organization.



The two filed the appeal against the NIS and the SCDC, representing a man surnamed Moon, who was subject to the NIS-commissioned investigative measure.



Much attention and controversy is expected as no details have been available thus far on the scope, procedure and specifics of the monitoring.



The hearing will also deliberate on whether it is Constitutional for a government agency to wiretap private citizens without their prior consent.



Meanwhile, cyber surveillance is an issue that rocked the country three years ago.



In October 2015, Kakao Talk, the nation's most-used messenger service, said it would fully cooperate with the prosecution. It was seen as caving to the authorities at the risk of compromising user privacy by helping the prosecution make arbitrary decisions about who it should monitor.



The "caving" came after the company struggled from a degraded reputation and fast-disappearing users following the revelation of a a minor opposition lawmaker who claimed that he was informed about the police seizing his Kakao Talk communication history with 3,000 acquaintances from a four-month period three months after the seizure.



Many users went on a so-called "digital migration," switching to other applications seeking better protection.



Then Kakao Talk co-CEO Lee Sir-goo vowed to push back against the authority's "cyberspace surveillance" even if it meant him being subject to criminal prosecution, but it did little to allay public fear at the time.



























