Reasons for Proposal and Major Provisions

The current Act defines a terrorist group as a group of terrorists designated by the United Nations (UN), and prescribes that any person who forms a terrorist group, joins one as a member, or supports a terrorist group shall be punished.

The Palestinian armed faction Hamas recently launched a surprise attack on Israel, resulting in many casualties, but there are no legal grounds to punish any person who supports or acts as a member of Hamas or other terrorist group that has not been designated as a terrorist group by the UN. This has raised concerns that there is a gap in the national terrorism response and prevention.

Accordingly, this Amendment allows the National Counterterrorism Committee to also designate terrorist groups but limits the designation to terrorist groups in foreign countries, thereby aiming to protect our right of self-defense from the threat of overseas terrorist groups (subparagraph 2 of Article 2, Article 5 (3) 4 newly inserted).