War on fake news amid a foreign policy and security crisis ... Chung Dong-young and the National Intelligence Service (NIS) launch sweeping legal action

[Financial News] The government has raised its response to fake news and malicious false reports related to foreign policy and national security matters to the highest level, launching sweeping legal action.
This hard-line approach comes as President Lee Jae Myung has recently instructed cabinet members to “impose legal sanctions if necessary, too” over distorted information related to foreign policy and national security. It is also linked to the amended Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, which took effect in July this year and allows punitive damages of up to five times the amount for the intentional dissemination of false information.
According to political circles on the 18th, the Ministry of Unification and the National Intelligence Service (NIS) have taken unusually forceful legal action over the spread of false information about Minister Chung Dong-young and NIS Director Lee Jong-seok. The move appears intended to prevent further spread of false information as conservative opposition demands for the dismissal of Minister Chung and Director Lee have intensified.
Minister Chung has vowed to take a hard line against private-life allegations raised by some conservative-leaning YouTube channels, including the claim that he has a 27-year-old daughter in North Korea. The Ministry of Unification has taken legal action, saying the allegations are clearly false. Chung’s side says it will pursue forceful civil and criminal legal measures, including a damages claim for defamation. Chung is also pushing back against calls for his resignation, calling them “the 2026 version of red-baiting.”
The NIS has also taken the unusual step of pursuing direct legal action over distorted reporting directly tied to national security secrets. In response to reports alleging that the NIS was bypassed—that a U.S. intelligence agency recently skipped the NIS and met only with the head of the Presidential Office’s National Security Office—the NIS called them “fake news that is completely wrong on the facts.” The move is seen as a sign that it will not stand by while false reports undermine the credibility of the intelligence authorities.
The Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have also been clashing with the press corps covering them at every regular briefing over the level of response to sensitive matters such as North Korean landmine explosions and issues concerning the South Korea-U.S. alliance.
The Ministry of National Defense has at times engaged in heated disputes with the press corps during regular briefings on issues including troop deployment to the Strait of Hormuz, the North Korean landmine explosion incident, efforts to track North Korean cruise missile launches, and the South Korea-U.S. alliance.

[email protected] Kim Kyung-soo Reporter