Telecoms' support of investigations up in H1

SEOUL, Sept. 29 (Yonhap) -- Court-authorized cooperation between South Korean telecom companies and criminal and other state-led investigations rose by a little over 10 percent in the first half of the year from last year, the country's telecom regulator said Monday.

The number of call confirmations provided by telecom companies to investigations
by police, prosecutors and intelligence agencies stood at 102,484 in the
January-June period, up 10.5 percent from a year ago, the Korea Communications
Commission said in a report.
Call confirmations are different from wire taps and only provide when and where
calls by alleged lawbreakers took place.
Prosecutors made the most requests, accounting for 61 percent of all call
confirmations, followed by the National Intelligence Service and the military,
with 48.4 percent and 6.8 percent, respectively.
Most of the call confirmations were of fixed-lines, with 18.2 percent, followed
by Internet use and mobile phones, with 14.4 percent and 7 percent, respectively.
Court-authorized eavesdropping of fixed-line voice calls for investigative
purposes decreased by 16.8 percent from last year to 608 cases, but interception
of e-mails and other Internet communications increased by 11.3 percent, according
to the commission.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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