Activity Budgets for Intelligence Units, Including the Defense Counterintelligence Command, Intelligence Command, and 777 Command, Face 'Deep Cuts'

Budget for North Korean Eavesdropping Unit '777 Command' Slashed by Half… Military Cites "Consideration of Intelligence Unit Reorganization Plans"

Defense Counterintelligence Command [Yonhap News File Photo]

(Seoul=Yonhap News) Reporters Kim Ho-jun and Kim Chul-seon = It has been revealed that military intelligence activity budgets for key intelligence units, including the Defense Counterintelligence Command and the Defense Intelligence Command, have been slashed in the government's budget proposal for next year.

According to data submitted by the Ministry of National Defense to Representative Kang Dae-shik of the People Power Party, a member of the National Assembly's National Defense Committee, on the 28th, the military intelligence activity budget for the Ministry of National Defense for next year was set at 139.964 billion won, a decrease of 734 million won from this year.

This budget refers to "information security expenses" used to support the collection, analysis, assessment, and production activities of military intelligence by these units, and functions as a form of special activity fund.

When the Ministry of National Defense gathers and requests the requirements of each unit, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) consults with the Ministry of Economy and Finance to allocate the budget for military intelligence activities for each unit.

The information security budget for each unit for next year is allocated as follows: 34.389 billion won for the Defense Intelligence Command, 19.214 billion won for the 777 Command, 18.989 billion won for the Defense Counterintelligence Command, 4.782 billion won for the Cyber Operations Command, and 2.744 billion won for the Defense Intelligence Agency.

The budget for the 777 Command, known as a North Korean eavesdropping unit, was cut by 17.75 billion won from this year (approximately 36.9 billion won), effectively halving it.

The Defense Intelligence Command and the Defense Counterintelligence Command, which were involved in the December 3 emergency martial law situation, also saw their budgets reduced by 1.983 billion won and 1.348 billion won, respectively.

Conversely, the information security budget proposals for the Navy and Air Force for next year have increased by approximately 12.8 billion won and 12 billion won, respectively, compared to this year.

Regarding the reason for the cuts in information security budgets for major intelligence units, the NIS stated only that "the Ministry of National Defense's intelligence budget is a non-disclosable matter according to relevant laws."

In this regard, the Ministry of National Defense explained, "In consideration of intelligence unit reorganization plans and similar factors, we have selected the military intelligence activity budget as a target for expenditure restructuring in our budget proposal."

Previously, the government announced plans to abolish the Defense Counterintelligence Command after dispersing and transferring its essential functions to other agencies, and to reorganize the command and organizational structure of defense intelligence organizations, including the Defense Intelligence Command, to integrate similar or overlapping functions.

Meanwhile, it is reported that the military authorities have internally prepared specific plans to separate the roles of the Chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Intelligence Department, which are currently held concurrently.

Currently, a three-star general holds both positions, commanding intelligence organizations under both the Ministry of National Defense and the JCS; however, the military is pushing to separate the two roles in connection with the reorganization of intelligence units.

Specifically, the plan is to have the Chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency remain a lieutenant general, as is currently the case, while the Chief of the JCS Intelligence Department will be concurrently held by the JCS Intelligence Director (major general level).

The military plans to pursue amendments to relevant laws, including the Defense Intelligence Agency Act, with a goal of implementing the organizational restructuring by January next year. Yonhap News