Seoul Shinmun: “[Exclusive] NIS, Once at the Center of Military Dictatorships, Still Has the Lowest Cooperation Rate in Investigations Into the Past.”

Paperslip Note:
The relevance of the article below for Adoptees is that TRC 3 has been granted greater investigative powers and, in principle, should have greater access to records than TRC 2. However, the extent to which these enhanced powers will actually be used — and whether they will result in greater access to records — is already being called into question in the context of other, non-Adoptee cases.

Quote from the article below:
“The amended Past Affairs Act, promulgated in February this year, granted the third Commission (TRC 3) compulsory investigative powers. When necessary, the Commission can ask the Public Prosecution Office (formerly the prosecutors' office) to seek a search-and-seizure warrant. Relevant agencies, including the NIS, can no longer refuse to submit records on grounds such as provisions of the NIS Act.”

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Seoul Shinmun Article:
“[Exclusive] NIS, Once at the Center of Military Dictatorships, Still Has the Lowest Cooperation Rate in Investigations Into the Past.”

Original Korean article posted on October 6th, 2026.
ChatGPT translation posted to Paperslip on October 6th, 2026.
Please see original Korean article for photos.
Some BOLDS and all blue highlighting ours.
We have added some information in parentheses ( ) for clarity.

Seoul Shinmun

[Exclusive] NIS, Once at the Center of Military Dictatorships, Still Has the Lowest Cooperation Rate in Investigations Into the Past

Reporter: Jeong Hoe-ha
Updated: October 6, 2026, 7:26 p.m.
Published: October 6, 2026, 7:26 p.m.

Third Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC 3) Now Has “Compulsory Powers,” but They Have Yet to Be Used

Jeong Chun-saeng: “Cooperation from relevant agencies is necessary; the Commission must also use its authority”

National Intelligence Service. Photo by the National Assembly press corps.

“It has been found that the National Intelligence Service (NIS) complied with only about half of the requests for records from the second Truth and Reconciliation Commission for the Investigation of Past Affairs, which operated from 2020 through last year. Even taking into account the special nature of the NIS as an intelligence agency, its cooperation rate was lower than that of the similarly situated Defense Counterintelligence Command (formerly the Defense Security Command).

With the third Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which was launched this year, now granted compulsory investigative powers and stronger obligations for relevant agencies to submit records, calls are growing for the NIS—which was once a key institution of authoritarian rule—to take a more active role in establishing the truth about past abuses.

According to data submitted by the Commission to National Assembly member Jeong Chun-saeng of the Rebuilding Korea Party on October 6, the NIS complied with 155 of the 311 requests for records made by the second Commission across 108 cases, a cooperation rate of 49.8 percent. This was the lowest rate among the relevant agencies.

By contrast, the Defense Counterintelligence Command, the military's intelligence agency, received 343 requests for records across 123 cases and responded to 333 of them, or 97.1 percent. The police also showed a high cooperation rate, responding to 749 of 759 requests, or 98.7 percent.

The NIS's non-cooperation was concentrated in records from the 1970s and 1980s. In connection with the 1986 Korea University occupation and sit-in protest, the NIS did not submit a single one of the 124 records requested by the Commission. Some records concerning the 1987 Brothers Welfare Center case (Brothers Home) also remained unsubmitted.

Meanwhile, the number of cases in which the second Commission halted its investigation without completing it reached 2,111. This was more than 100 times the number recorded by the first Commission, which operated from 2005 to 2010 and had only 20 such cases.

Song Sang-kyo (right), chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, answers questions during a National Assembly audit of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee on October 6, 2026. Newsis.

The amended Past Affairs Act, promulgated in February this year, granted the third Commission compulsory investigative powers. When necessary, the Commission can ask the Public Prosecution Office (formerly the prosecutors' office) to seek a search-and-seizure warrant. Relevant agencies, including the NIS, can no longer refuse to submit records on grounds such as provisions of the NIS Act.

However, it is understood that the third Commission has not yet exercised these compulsory powers. A Commission official said, “Since the launch of the third Commission in February this year, we have not used our compulsory powers, and we hope there will be no need to do so in the future,” adding, “We also expect the NIS to show a changed attitude.” In fact, in June the NIS submitted materials—including a list of people executed during the Korean War (June 25)—that previous commissions had struggled to obtain.

Assembly member Jeong Chun-saeng emphasized, “Now that the Commission's authority has been strengthened, relevant agencies such as the NIS should actively cooperate with requests to submit necessary records,” adding, “The Commission itself must also actively use its authority to thoroughly uncover the truth about past affairs.”’

Reporter: Jeong Hoe-ha