By Jun Ji-hye
The Ministry of National Defense is moving to reform its commands in charge of counter-espionage and cyber security as part of measures to achieve President Moon Jae-in’s goal of building robust national defense through reform, sources said Monday.
The ministry has been preparing reform measures for the Defense Security Command (DSC) and the Cyber Command since new Defense Minister Song Young-moo took office, July 14, they noted.
During his inauguration ceremony, Song vowed to build “new armed forces” through reform in line with President Moon’s pledge.
The DSC has been criticized for excessively monitoring individual soldiers under the guise of information gathering. The command has also faced suspicions several times that it monitored not only soldiers but also civilians. In 2011, it was suspected of attempting to hack a university professor’s emails.
The Cyber Command was embroiled in controversy over allegations that it meddled in the 2012 presidential election by posting online comments supporting then-ruling party candidate Park Geun-hye and criticizing then-opposition party candidate Moon. At the time, the command claimed such activities were part of its psychological operations.
“Reform measures will likely include those to enhance the political neutrality of the DSC and the Cyber Command, and to prevent them from collecting information that can be seen as excessive surveillance of individuals,” a source said, asking not to be named.
Amid the reform drive, expectations are growing that a DSC department in charge of collecting information on military personnel and other affairs could be reduced or even removed.
The DSC is comprised of three departments. The other two are in charge of managing security work regarding the defense industry and conducting counter-espionage, respectively.
Speculation is also growing that an Air Force general or a Marine Corps general could be appointed as the DSC commander as part of efforts to accelerate reform. The post has been dominated by Army generals.
To reform the Cyber Command, the ministry is considering adjusting the functions and personnel of the psychological operations group, or even removing the group. Instead, measures to enhance the command’s original role to protect the military from hacking attempts will be introduced, the source added.
In a similar move, June 1, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) chief Suh Hoon ordered the “immediate and complete” abolition of the spy agency’s domestic intelligence operations right after being inaugurated.
Following the order, the NIS stopped all activities of officers gathering information on government ministries, organizations and agencies, as well as media companies.
Such a move came as the spy agency has long been suspected of meddling in domestic politics and elections, including the 2012 presidential election in which the NIS allegedly conducted a smear campaign by posting online comments favorable to Park and negative to Moon.