Defense ministry dissolves counterintelligence command to curb political interference

The defense ministry said it will dissolve the Military Counterintelligence Command and redistribute its functions.

Minister Ahn Kyu-baek called the restructuring a historic turning point for building a people's army. The move abolishes duties such as political trend investigations, personnel spying and the collection of public opinion data, along with the gathering of information on illegal activities and corruption.

"The restructuring of the Counterintelligence Command is not merely an organizational rearrangement or functional adjustment, but a historic watershed for building a 'people's military' by reorganizing the structure and mission so that our military's intelligence agency can never again intervene in politics," Ahn said.

Under the new presidential decree, internal security responsibilities will shift to the Defense Security Support Group, while investigative powers and joint investigation rights during martial law transfer to the Ministry of National Defense Investigation Headquarters. A new Defense Counterintelligence Headquarters will handle remaining counterintelligence tasks, including monitoring foreign and North Korean information activities targeting the defense industry and managing national defense cybersecurity.

To strengthen democratic control, the head of the inspection office within the new headquarters will be appointed from among senior external civil servants or equivalent military officials. A compliance inspection committee composed of civilian experts will also report directly to the minister. Soldiers assigned to the new body may file objections with the inspection chief if ordered by superiors to violate constitutionally guaranteed human rights.