Defense ministry dismantles counterintelligence command to block political interference

The Ministry of National Defense said it will dismantle the Defense Counterintelligence Command and distribute its functions among three new organizations to prevent military intelligence agencies from interfering in politics.

Minister Ahn Kyu-baek called the restructuring a historic turning point for building a "people's military" by ensuring that South Korea's military intelligence can never again intervene in political affairs. "We will reflect on the painful historical lessons of the past and build a counterintelligence organization and system suitable for the new era," Ahn said.

Under the plan, the command's counterintelligence, security and national security investigation functions will be dispersed to the newly created Defense Counterintelligence Headquarters, the Defense Security Support Group and the Ministry of National Defense Investigation Headquarters. The Defense Counterintelligence Headquarters will handle counterintelligence and defense industry-related information activities along with defense industry and cybersecurity tasks, while the Investigation Headquarters assumes joint investigation authority during martial law.

The government intends to complete the establishment of these new organizations by the end of July as related subordinate decrees are finalized. To facilitate the transition, the Presidential Decree on the Defense Counterintelligence Command was abolished, and eleven other presidential decrees including the Enforcement Decree of the Act on Protection of People and Public Safety Against Terrorism were revised accordingly. The term "Defense Counterintelligence Command" appearing in these laws was replaced with "Defense Counterintelligence Headquarters."

The revised decrees take effect on July 31.