Following the disbandment of the Defense Counterintelligence Command (DCC), three organizations, including the Defense Counterintelligence Bureau, have been officially established to take over the DCC's missions.
The three core functions previously concentrated in the DCC — counterintelligence, security, and national security investigation — have been transferred to the newly created Defense Counterintelligence Bureau, the Defense Security Support Group, and the National Security Investigation Group within the Ministry of National Defense's Investigation Headquarters, respectively.
The Ministry of National Defense held a launch ceremony for the Defense Counterintelligence Bureau at its Gwacheon headquarters on the 3rd, presided over by Minister Ahn Gyu-back.
The Defense Counterintelligence Bureau will use the existing DCC facilities in Gwacheon.
The ministry explained that the newly created Defense Counterintelligence Bureau will advance its core functions to become a specialized military counterintelligence organization.
In the counterintelligence field, the bureau plans to strengthen its counterintelligence response capabilities against North Korean and foreign intelligence activities targeting the military as well as terrorism threats. In the defense industry field, it will focus on blocking military secret leaks while developing new areas of work, including support for maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) of U.S. Navy vessels and counterintelligence support for major strategic assets.
In the cyber field, the bureau will concentrate on blocking security threats in the cyber domain, including advanced technology security support covering artificial intelligence (AI) and satellites.
The Defense Security Support Group is an organization that has made the DCC's security function independent and specialized.
The Defense Security Support Group takes exclusive charge of military security duties, including central security audits and security incident investigations for units at the corps level and above. It will be responsible for the military's security posture, including preventing military security incidents and protecting military secrets. The Defense Security Support Group's building will use the Ministry of National Defense annex in Yongsan.
The National Security Investigation Group, newly established within the Ministry of National Defense Investigation Headquarters, has inherited the DCC's national security investigation function.
The National Security Investigation Group will combine the investigative expertise of the Investigation Headquarters with the DCC's national security investigation capabilities to take exclusive charge of investigating crimes that threaten national security, such as espionage, military secret leaks, and treasonous acts.
To transfer the national security investigation function, the ministry operated an "Investigation Function Transfer Task Force" involving the DCC and the Investigation Headquarters, handing over forensic investigation equipment to the Investigation Headquarters and deploying numerous national security investigation personnel.
To transfer the military security function, security audit and investigation techniques and know-how were passed on, and numerous security personnel were also transferred.
Above all, an "National Security Investigation Council" involving the Defense Counterintelligence Bureau, the Ministry of National Defense Investigation Headquarters, and the Defense Security Support Group will be operated to maintain a cooperative system for sharing information and intelligence related to national security investigations and for joint responses among relevant agencies.
With this disbandment of the DCC, the controversial functions of trend surveillance and personnel intelligence, as well as power-abusing missions and functions such as collecting information on illegal activities and corruption, have been institutionally abolished.
Following the disbandment of the DCC, about half of the DCC's authorized personnel moved to the Defense Counterintelligence Bureau. About 200 personnel were transferred to the Defense Security Support Group and about 160 to the Ministry of National Defense Investigation Headquarters. However, about 460 officers belonging to the DCC returned to the individual armed services to which they had originally belonged.
