Prime Minister Kishida of Japan [AFP=Yonhap News Agency file photo]

A bill to establish a National Intelligence Agency, dubbed Japan's "domestic CIA," passed the Japanese Diet on the 27th.

According to Nikkei and Yomiuri Shimbun, among others, a bill to create the National Intelligence Agency and its command center, the National Intelligence Council, was approved in a plenary session of the Japanese House of Councillors (Upper House) on the afternoon of the same day.

With this, the National Intelligence Council, which will serve as the command center for the Japanese government's information gathering and analysis, and the National Intelligence Agency, which will handle related practical matters, will be newly established.

The National Intelligence Council will be chaired by the Prime Minister and composed of nine relevant ministers, including the Chairman of the National Public Safety Commission, the Chief Cabinet Secretary, the Minister of Justice, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs. It will be responsible for establishing basic policies related to security and terrorism, as well as responses to foreign powers' intelligence activities.

The National Intelligence Agency will serve as the secretariat for the National Intelligence Council and will be responsible for collecting information from various intelligence agencies.

Currently, information is collected separately by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Public Security Intelligence Agency, the foreign affairs and public security divisions of the National Police Agency, and the Intelligence Headquarters of the Ministry of Defense. However, this will be unified, and the command functions for collecting and analyzing information are expected to be strengthened.

The National Intelligence Agency will be established in July of this year with approximately 700 personnel, by reorganizing the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office, which is directly under the Prime Minister.

The National Intelligence Agency and its director will hold the same status as the National Security Secretariat (NSS), which plans Japan's foreign and security policy, and the director of the NSS.

The establishment of the National Intelligence Council and the National Intelligence Agency was one of the core policies advocated by Prime Minister Kishida during the general election held in February.

The background for establishing these agencies is understood to be the recognition of the increasingly severe security environment surrounding Japan.

The intense international competition related to advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) has become a problem, as has the issue of foreign powers spreading fake news through social media (SNS) during elections.

In addition, from the perspective of economic security, the need to consolidate information across various policy areas such as diplomacy, defense, and technology has emerged within Japan.

Prime Minister Kishida has emphasized that this law is necessary to protect the safety of the people and secure national interests.

He stated in the House of Councillors' Committee on Cabinet the previous day, "To prevent critical crises, it is important to have a system in which the intelligence sector supports the policy sector's firm decision-making."

In addition to establishing the National Intelligence Council, Prime Minister Kishida is also pushing for the enactment of a "Spy Prevention Law" to prohibit the illegal collection of confidential information from the public and corporations, and the establishment of a "Foreign Intelligence Agency" to gather information abroad.

The bill for the establishment of the National Intelligence Council, etc., was smoothly passed through the House of Representatives with the support of the ruling coalition parties such as the Liberal Democratic Party and the Japan Innovation Party in April, as well as opposition parties such as the Constitutional Democratic Party and the Democratic Party for the People, which had previously shown a negative stance due to concerns about personal information infringement.

In the House of Councillors' Committee on Cabinet, the Constitutional Democratic Party, an opposition party, submitted an amendment proposing the establishment of an independent body that would report and publicize the activities of the National Intelligence Council, etc., to the Diet once a year and monitor its activities, in order to prevent human rights violations due to strengthened national secret information management and ensure political neutrality. However, this amendment was rejected.

Around the Japanese Diet on this day, citizens opposing the establishment of the National Intelligence Agency held a rally.

According to NHK, about 200 citizens (estimated by organizers) gathered, holding banners such as "Oppose National Intelligence Agency" and voicing their opposition.

In a press conference after the bill's passage, Prime Minister Kishida, regarding concerns about personal information infringement, emphasized that this law "deals with the relationship between administrative agencies" and "does not increase such risks."

He added, regarding the Spy Prevention Law, "We will review each item thoroughly and steadily."

Previously, during the deliberation process of the bill, the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors' Committee on Cabinet adopted a supplementary resolution requesting consideration for personal information protection in relation to this law. However, this resolution has no legal binding force.