South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) announced on the 3rd that it has mobilized its full intelligence capabilities to respond to the Middle East situation, including forming a "Middle East Situation Response Task Force" and holding daily emergency review meetings chaired by the NIS director.
The NIS task force was established on the 28th of last month when the Iran crisis erupted. The NIS deputy director has been attending daily "Middle East Situation Review Emergency Inter-Ministry Meetings" chaired by the Prime Minister.
The NIS explained that it is operating a "24-hour emergency response team" to monitor situations in real-time across all Middle East bases and develop countermeasures, while also coordinating with allied intelligence agencies to support the safe evacuation of Korean citizens residing in Iran, Israel, and areas with U.S. military bases.
The agency is also closely tracking and monitoring "supply chain risk" factors and promptly providing information to relevant agencies, as well as conducting comprehensive inspections of on-the-ground situations across industries including energy, logistics, defense, and shipbuilding in response to potential closures of the Strait of Hormuz.
Additionally, the NIS noted that terrorist organizations may attempt large-scale attacks to exploit Middle East instability as an opportunity to rebuild their forces and raise their profile. The agency added that it is conducting assessments and interdiction activities against potential terrorist threats both domestically and internationally.