Problems and Reasonable Amendments to Article 98 of the Criminal Act: Espionage Provision

Article 98 of the Criminal Act stipulates espionage. And it is stipulated very simply. Recently, espionage incidents have occurred and have caused major social problems. Currently, the National Assembly is making efforts to revise the Criminal Act. However, it is still insufficient, so efforts should be made to revise it reasonably in the future. The following is a suggestion on how the espionage law should be revised. First, it should be revised so that espionage for foreign countries, foreign organizations, and anti-state organizations can be punished, as well as espionage for the enemy. Second, there is no need to define what state secrets are in the criminal law. This is because the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court have clearly defined state secrets. Third, it is reasonable to specify the types of espionage. This is because it is not affected by the time of the intention to serve the enemy. If this is revised, it is reasonable to delete the crime of leaking military secrets. Fourth, considerable care is required to manage national secrets. We should create a provision to punish those who fail to take care and leak state secrets to the outside. Fifth, the crime of espionage punishes acts of collecting state secrets for the enemy. There should also be provisions to punish acts of collecting state secrets without the intention of benefiting the enemy.