South Korea’s Defense Ministry on Monday launched a new counterintelligence unit tasked with countering espionage and terror threats from various sources, including North Korea.
The agency’s launch is part of a comprehensive reform aimed at replacing a previous unit that had long been criticized for its political influence, according to the South Korean news agency Yonhap.
The new defense counterintelligence agency is one of three new bodies being established under the reform plan, after the ministry decided to disperse and transfer the core functions of the Defense Counterintelligence Command (DCC) to new and existing agencies.
Yonhap quoted the Defense Ministry as saying that “the new counterintelligence unit will proactively address future security threats by cooperating with domestic and international partner agencies to counter the increasing covert intelligence activities and terrorist threats from North Korea and other countries.”
The ministry added that “the unit will focus on preventing military secret leaks in the defense industry, while seeking to provide security support for other strategic areas, such as maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) operations being pursued in cooperation with the U.S. Navy.”
According to the ministry, the agency’s main tasks include protecting advanced technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and satellite systems, from potential cyber threats. (EIR)
