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Labor Party deputy leader Jeong Jin-woo speaks at a press conference held by civic groups at the Franciscan Education Center in central Seoul opposing the search and seizure of Kakao Talk records by government agencies and calling for a stop to the operations

Kakao announced on Oct. 14 that it plans to once again stop cooperating with intelligence and investigative bodies warrants to eavesdrop on conversations over its Kakao Talk app.

But with prosecutors describing the Supreme Court ruling underpinning the decision as “difficult to comprehend” and stressing the need for legislation on installing monitoring devices, the Kakao Talk eavesdropping that prompted a “cyber exile” movement two years ago is once again the focus of debate.

Kakao said on Oct. 14 that it had “decided in accordance with the Supreme Court ruling to cease cooperation with the current method of execution for eavesdropping warrants on Kakao Talk users.”

In the past, Kakao has periodically provided summaries of text messages exchanged by users when presented with a court-issued communications restriction permission document (eavesdropping warrant) by the National Intelligence Service (NIS), prosecutors, police, or other intelligence or investigative bodies.

But in a judgment the previous day upholding a two-year jail sentence and three-year suspension of qualifications for three individuals indicted on violation of the National Security Law - including a Corean Alliance for Independent Reunification and Democracy co-representative surnamed Lee - the Supreme Court ruled that Kakao had violated the law by extracting and periodically presenting conversation content from its servers to investigative bodies after being asked to execute eavesdropping warrants, and that the content in question could not be used in evidence. The message of the ruling was that the collection of evidence through eavesdropping warrants is not acceptable, even if it does not involve real-time monitoring of conversations.

Kakao declared its refusal to cooperate with eavesdropping in Oct. 2014 to counter a “cyber exile” movement, in which users opted to use overseas messaging services to avoid possible monitoring. The move landed it in conflict with prosecutors, and it eventually resumed cooperation in Oct. 2015.

“In light of investigative organizations’ lack of mechanical equipment for monitoring [of Kakao Talk] and the legal issues involved, it is difficult to comprehend the Supreme Court’s decision,” the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office said on Oct. 14.

“We absolutely need eavesdropping to investigate serious crimes such as murder, robbery, sexual assault, and National Security Law violations, and if the Supreme Court does not alter its opinion, we are in urgent need of legislative and technical supplementation,” it added.

A Ministry of Justice source said the need for additional legislation was “under working-level consideration, including analysis of Supreme Court rulings.”

By Kim Jae-seob and Kim Min-kyung, staff reporters

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