Article 7 (Communication-Restricting Measures for National Security)
(1) Only when the national security is expected to be put in grave danger or it is necessary for
counterterrorism activities defined in subparagraph 6 of Article 2 of the Act on Counter-Terrorism for the
Protection of Citizens and Public Security, if the collection of intelligence is required to prevent such
danger, the heads of the intelligence and investigative agencies prescribed by Presidential Decree
(hereinafter referred to as "heads of intelligence and investigative agencies") may take communicationrestricting measures as follows: <Amended on Dec. 29, 2001; Mar. 3, 2016; Mar. 24, 2020>
1. If either or both of the parties concerned with a communication are Korean nationals, permission
therefor from a chief presiding judge of the high court shall be obtained: Provided, That the same shall
not apply to the military telecommunications (limited to where the telecommunications are used to
conduct operations) provided for in Article 2 of the Military Telecommunications Act;
2. Written approval shall be obtained from the President with respect to communications of countries
hostile to the Republic of Korea, foreign agencies or groups and foreign nationals suspected of engaging
in antinational activities, or members of groups within the Korean Peninsula effectively beyond the
sovereignty of the Republic of Korea and their umbrella groups based in foreign countries, and in the
event of the proviso of paragraph (1) 1.
(2) The effective period of communication-restricting measures under paragraph (1) shall not exceed four
months, and in the event that the objective of such communication-restricting measures is attained, the
communication-restricting measures shall be immediately discontinued; but if the requirements prescribed
in paragraph (1) continue to be in existence, the effective period of the communication-restricting
measures may be extended up to four months with permission therefor from a chief presiding judge of the
high court or approval therefor from the President after filing an application for such permission or
approval, accompanied by the material establishing a prima facie case: Provided, That the communicationrestricting measures provided for in the proviso of paragraph (1) 1 may be extended without approval
therefor from the President until military operations are completed in the event that the nation is in time of
war or incident, or at war with an enemy in the national emergency corresponding thereto. <Amended on
Dec. 29, 2001; Mar. 24, 2020>
(3) Article 6 (2), (4) through (6), and (9) shall apply mutatis mutandis to the permission under paragraph 1
(1). In such cases, "judicial police officer (including military police officer; hereinafter the same shall
apply)" shall be deemed “heads of intelligence and investigative agencies”; "court", " chief presiding
judge of the high court"; "Article 5 (1)", "main clause of Article 7 (1) 1"; and "communication-restricting
measures for each criminal suspect or person subject to internal investigation" in Article 6 (2) and (5),
"communication-restricting measures", respectively. <Amended on Dec. 31, 2019; Mar. 24, 2020>
(4) Necessary matters such as procedures for a presidential approval referred to in paragraph (1) 2 shall be
determined by Presidential Decree.