President Park urges anti-terror law passage

President Park urges anti-terror law passage. March. 08, 2016 07:16. by 장택동 기자will71@donga.com. President Park Geun-hye has called for swift passage of the anti-cyber terrorism bill on Sunday amid rising threats from North Korea since the adoption of the UN Security Council sanctions and the launch of South Korea-U.S. joint exercises. The president ordered her staff to prepare additional sanctions at both bilateral and multilateral levels, warning North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that the regime will have to pay a commensurate price for further provocations.

She criticized the opposition parties at the meeting with senior presidential secretaries on Monday for false rumors have went public during the anti-terror legislation process, condemning that they aggravated social division. She emphasized that national security should not be used for political interests.

President Park lamented that there is no legal system in Korea to deal with cyberattacks comprehensively, showing her deep concern on the anti-terrorism bill pending at the parliament. The ruling Saenuri Party claims that the National Intelligence Service (NIS) should be the control tower for cyber terrorism, while the opposition parties continue to argue that the authority should go to the Ministry of Science, ICT, and Future Planning.

Regarding this matter, the NIS schedules to hold an emergency cyber security meeting on Tuesday, where bureau chiefs of 14 ministries will attend. "There is a highest possibility ever that the North might commit cyberattacks in response to the sanctions imposed by the international community,” said an NIS official.

“The National Assembly should not abandon its duties despite external difficulties,” Park said to reiterate the urgency of passing the labor reform bill and the service industry promotion bill. “Politicians are promising job boost once again as the election season approaches, but are at the same time completely ignoring the legislation for labor reform and economy boost."