Defense ministry abolishes counterintelligence command to split powers

The defense ministry said it will abolish the Defense Counterintelligence Command and distribute its functions among three new organizations starting July 31. The restructuring responds to growing public distrust after political interference cases emerged under a system where counterintelligence, military security, and national security investigation powers were overly concentrated within the former command.

Under the revised presidential decree, the newly created Defense Counterintelligence Headquarters will assume responsibility for counterintelligence information activities and defense industry cybersecurity tasks. The Defense Security Support Group will handle central security inspections at the corps level or higher and investigate security breaches, while investigation duties regarding national security cases and joint inquiry rights during martial law situations will transfer to the Ministry of National Defense Investigation Headquarters.

To guarantee democratic control, the ministry will appoint senior external audit officials as heads of the inspection offices within both the counterintelligence and investigation headquarters. A compliance and inspection committee reporting directly to the minister will also monitor the operations of the new bodies. Alongside these structural changes, the ministry aims to establish political neutrality and professionalism through personnel reforms and organizational culture innovation.

The defense ministry plans to draft the tentative Military Counterintelligence Unit Duty Performance Act within this year to define the scope of counterintelligence activities and specify penalties for illegal conduct by unit members. The abolition of the command also necessitates amendments to 11 existing presidential decrees, including the Enforcement Decree of the Act on the Protection of Defense Industry Technology, to replace references to the old organization with the new entities.