정보공개제도와 국가비밀보호의 문제

Abstract

Korean Constitution does not mention Right to know expressly but Korean Information Disclosure Act clearly states that ensuring the people' right to know is one of purpose of the act. It, however, is not that all information should be disclosed under the act. Information related to national security get two tiers of protection from disclosure under the act. First, article 4 provides that this act shall not apply to any information collected or produced by agencies in charge of information pertaining to the national security and security services for the purpose of analyzing information pertaining to the national security. The other protection is Non-disclosure information provision in Article 9 (1). There are 8 cases. Among of them, subparagraph 1 and 2 are related to national security. According to subparagraph 1 information classified secret by other laws, including president decree, may not be disclosed. Not all executive rule but president decree and certain types of rules are listed. The listed exceptions should be interpreted limitedly. Most scholars and courts interpret that the listed matters of subparagraph 2 as only 4 possible areas could able to be clearly divided but it is not always possible to catabolize certain information into national security, the national defense, unification and diplomatic relation. Therefor, it is better to understand subparagraph 2 as comprehensive and inclusive approach through case by case method.