During the run-up to the implementation of the controversial state secrets law in 2013, the Board of Audit warned that the legislation could obstruct its auditing of government offices, the board said Tuesday.
The Law on the Protection of Specially Designated Secrets was enacted in December 2013 amid fears that people's constitutional right to know could be undermined in the name of national security.
Three months earlier, the accounting watchdog conveyed its concern to the Cabinet Secretariat that ministries and other government offices might refuse to submit documents categorized as "specially designated secrets," making its task of fully auditing government accounts difficult.