Changes in Private SECURITY Industry according to the Enactment and Amendments of South KOREAN “Security Services Industry Act”

Abstract

A country is responsible for the safety of the people. It would be ideal for the police to protect the safety of all people and, if it is possible, the private security industry, would not develop any further. However, the crime rate of South Korea has continued to rise and the safety services provided by the country are limited. It is because it is impossible to predict when, where, and how a dangerous situation may occur. The “Security Services Industry Act” was enacted to foster the private security industry sound and healthy. It was enacted in 1976 and has been revised 26 times. The amendments of the "Security Services Industry Act" can be divided into partial amendments, amendments due to other law and full amendments The amendments due to other law mean the changes due to other law. The name change of the Ministry of Public Administration and Security is a representative example. Additionally, it was revised due to the changes in “Criminal Act”, “Punishment of Violences, Etc. Act”, “Civil Act”, “Presidential Security Act”, and “Administrative Procedures Act”. However, these amendments mostly did not affect the purpose of the "Security Services Industry Act" much. The overall amendment trend was addition and reinforcement, rather than deletion or alleviation. Although it is one of the main subjects responsible for the security of South Korea, it has been growing quantitatively without extending the scope of the private security industry and delegating appropriate authorities. In terms of the past 26 revisions, the quantity of it has grown explosively from the enactment in 1976 to 2001, when it finally had the current business areas(i.e., facility security, escort security, personal security, machine security, and special security) and from 2002 to 2012, when the capital requirement was lowered, the responsibility principle began to be applied to the punishment provisions, and the dual task prohibition was removed. It has grown qualitatively from 2013, as regulations were strengthened: the collective civil complaint site was designated, the prohibition period of a sexual criminal was increased, and the prohibition for influencing the hiring of underqualified or unqualified personnel was introduced. The amendments of the “Security Services Industry Act” are supposed to develop the private security to the next sound level, maintain the national order, and protect the social safety. If the private security violates laws or adversely affects the public order, it should be sanctioned and punished strongly. However, it is necessary to give righteous authority and add more tasks such as private investor service or traffic regulation to security guards, as subjects responsible for social safety, for effectively maintaining the national order and protecting social safety effectively.