A court has ruled that police were justified in rejecting a series of excessively broad information disclosure requests filed by a repeat petitioner.
According to police Thursday, the Busan District Court recently found that a request filed in February by a prison inmate, identified only as A, against the Busanjin Police Station constituted an "abuse of rights." The inmate had sought full disclosure of every information request decision issued to any member of the public by the station throughout November 2025. The court ruled that police were lawful in refusing the request.
The Busanjin Police Station had denied the request on the grounds that the materials sought contained a large volume of investigative information and content that could infringe on individuals' privacy. A then filed a lawsuit with the Busan District Court seeking to overturn the refusal, arguing the decision was unlawful.
The court said the request "constitutes a malicious information disclosure demand made solely to harass civil servants, with no intention of actually using the information," adding that requiring police to individually identify and redact sensitive material would result in a wasteful use of administrative resources.
A has filed a total of 61 information disclosure requests with police agencies across the country since 2024 and has brought six lawsuits challenging refusals.
Similar cases — in which prison inmates filed information disclosure requests with police and subsequently pursued legal challenges — numbered 34 over the past three years.
A Korean National Police Agency official said the agency would "continue to uphold the public's right to know to the fullest extent possible, while ensuring that police administrative resources are not wasted unnecessarily, so that we can focus on our core mission of protecting the lives and property of the people."
arin@heraldcorp.com
