Establishing the First Standards for Overseas Transfer of Personal Information in Response to Transnational Crime Investigations

Control Mechanisms Established to Protect the Right to Self-Determination

The police have established the first-ever standards for the overseas transfer of personal information required in the process of responding to transnational crimes.

On July 6, the National Police Agency announced the enactment of the “Regulations on the Overseas Transfer of Personal Information for International Cooperation in Crime Response and Investigations.” This regulation defines the standards and procedures for the overseas transfer of personal information that occurs during responses to transnational crime and the protection of overseas Korean nationals. The regulation has been introduced to provide detailed standards for the new system of overseas personal information transfer, which was newly established in accordance with the amended Police Officers’ Act coming into effect on July 7, and will be applied from the same date.

The police are on standby to repatriate Korean criminal gang members who committed crimes such as scams and hostage robbery at Phnom Penh International Airport in Cambodia in January this year. National Police Agency

This system aims to support police activities that transcend borders, including international cooperation in the response to transnational crimes such as scams, drug offenses, human trafficking, and cybercrime, as well as the protection of overseas Koreans and searches for missing persons. The police explained that special emphasis was placed on establishing control mechanisms to protect individuals’ rights to self-determination over their personal information.

The new regulation allows the transfer of personal information overseas to international organizations such as Interpol and Europol, as well as foreign law enforcement agencies, for the purposes of criminal investigations, apprehension and repatriation of fugitives, protection of overseas Korean nationals involved in incidents or accidents abroad, and searches for missing persons—essentially, in any situation where it is necessary to protect the lives and physical safety of citizens.

With the opening of opportunities to utilize biometric information such as fingerprints and facial data, the identification of fugitives abroad, the detection of forged or altered identities, and the confirmation of identities for deceased or missing persons are expected to become significantly faster.

Additionally, these regulations are expected to further enhance the effectiveness of international cooperation by being linked to the government-wide integrated system advancement project currently underway at the National Police Agency. Through a secure information-sharing platform equipped with robust security and privacy protection systems, it is expected to become a representative channel for international cooperation in criminal investigations and the protection of overseas Korean nationals.

Park Joonseong, Director of the International Criminal Investigation Cooperation Bureau at the National Police Agency, stated, "It is significant in that we have systematized standards and procedures for the protection of personal information while also enhancing the effectiveness of international cooperation through a smooth information-sharing system between countries. We will continue to improve the system to ensure a balance between responses to transnational crime and the protection of personal information."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.