Pyongyang has scrapped two of its spy agencies to beef up a third run by the Defense Ministry, a news report said yesterday, a move that analysts say will give North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s military more power.
Kim has devoted much of his country’s scarce resources to his 1.2 million-member military — one of the world’s largest — under his songun, or “military-first” policy.
The isolated communist regime previously operated four to five major spy agencies, primarily to collect intelligence on South Korea.
PHOTO: AFP
The two countries are still technically at war since their conflict ended in 1953 with a truce, not a formal peace treaty.
The North also uses the agencies to drum up sources of income, by engaging in illicit drug trafficking, weapons trade and counterfeiting foreign currency, according to the South’s Unification Ministry.
Yonhap reported that the North dismantled two agencies run by the Workers’ Party and incorporated them into an organ run by the People’s Armed Forces — a body equal to a defense ministry.
A fourth agency was downsized, the report said, citing sources it says are privy to North Korean affairs.
South Korea’s Unification Ministry and the National Intelligence Service would not confirm the Yonhap report.
The report said the reshuffling would increase the military’s control in intelligence-gathering and reduce redundancy among the agencies.
Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies, agreed, saying the measures appeared to be aimed at giving Kim’s military and the National Defense Commission more power, which will also strengthen his leadership.
The North’s rubber-stamp parliament reappointed Kim as the head of the commission — the top government body — in last month’s closely watched session that helped prove Kim was still in control despite his reported stroke in August.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have intensified since the North launched a rocket on April 5, drawing a denunciation from the UN Security Council and further sanctions.
Pyongyang claims it put a satellite into orbit, but the US and its allies say the launch was really a test of the country’s missile technology.
The North angrily vowed to restart its nuclear program in response to the UN statement.
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