The Human Rights Watch is sounding the alarm over a recent South Korean amendment that changes who can conduct domestic investigations into illegal North Korea ties.

Earlier this month, South Korea’s National Assembly voted to revise a law so that “anti-communist investigations” are carried out by the National Police Agency starting in 2024 — not the National Intelligence Service (NIS). 

That change was meant to limit NIS power. Traditionally, “anti-communist” investigations look into any potential violation of South Korea’s controversial 1948 National Security Law, which can punish acts that are perceived to be pro-North. In the past, human rights