New science technology has brought us affluence, yet on the other hand, it also has caused pain with unexpected problems. Drones developed for military purposes are closely related to all the realms of our life. These drones are being regarded as one of necessary mechanical equipments, and the size of their market is gradually increasing.
These drones are being used in various fields, such as disaster scenes, search for a missing person, narcotic investigation and etc., and they can be said to be very useful. On the other hand, drones have different problems, for example, the invasion of an individual's privacy by filming a person using a drone, housebreaking and use in a terror.
At present, drones have their regulation of definition in the 「Act on the Promotion and Foundation of Drone Utilization(‘the Drone Law’ from hence)」 which was enacted as the 16420th law on April 30, 2019, and began to be enforced since May 1, 2020. Yet, while the 「Aviation Safety Act」 directly regulates drones, there is no regulation to clearly control drones in case drones are used for the activities to prevent or investigate crimes by investigation authorities. Because of which, if drones are abused in the process of using drones during the activities of the police, the problem that drones cannot be controlled can occur.
In the Korean criminal justice legal system, when drones are used by law enforcement agencies, there are no ground laws that can regulate them directly. As the ways to solve those problems, first, the establishment of new provisions of the existing laws, second, the establishment of new laws, third interpretation in the frame of the existing laws and regulations and others can be suggested. In particular, control with the enactment of new laws has been tried, but it has been failed. The suggestions can be estimated to have their own merits and demerits. In conclusion, in the present situation, the acceptable range and requirements for the use of drones by investigation agencies need to be set through the interpretation in the frame of the existing laws and regulations. Through this process, the legitimacy of the use of drones by investigation agencies will be able to be granted, and its danger will be removed.