Seoul: The defense ministry has announced plans to disband the Defense Counterintelligence Command, which was implicated in former President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed martial law attempt in 2024, officials revealed Thursday. This decision marks the potential end of the command's 49-year history upon the completion of its dissolution.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the command is suspected of playing a pivotal role in Yoon's brief imposition of martial law in December 2024. The former commander of the command is currently on trial for allegedly deploying troops to key governmental locations, including the National Assembly and the National Election Commission, on the night of the attempted martial law. There are also allegations that the command organized troops to detain approximately 10 key politicians, including the leaders of the ruling and main opposition parties, as well as the National Assembly speaker.
The command, which has undergone several name changes under different administrations due to its influential role, is facing dismantlement for the first time since its inception in 1977. "We have advised the constructive dismantling of the Defense Counterintelligence Command and transferring or removing its existing functions, such as security investigation, counterintelligence, and security audit," stated Hong Hyun-ik, the chief of a special committee tasked with reforming the command, during a briefing.
The committee, which includes military, government, and civilian officials, recommended the establishment of a new organization provisionally named the Defense Security Intelligence Agency. This new agency would be focused on specialized areas such as counterintelligence, counterterrorism, and arms industry intelligence, according to Hong.
This proposed plan is part of the defense ministry's broader efforts to restructure the military in the wake of the martial law attempt, which led to the removal of numerous senior military leaders, including the former heads of the counterintelligence command, the defense intelligence command, and the capital defense command.
In a report submitted to lawmakers last year, the ministry highlighted that the counterintelligence command possessed "excessive" rights, encompassing intelligence gathering and investigation. The ministry suggested that its functions should be limited to counterintelligence activities only. "The focus of the reform was to optimally disperse rights and functions ... so that one specific institution would not excessively exercise its rights," a ministry official stated.
In response to concerns about potential gaps that may arise from distributing the functions across different units, the committee recommended creating a cooperative body to facilitate the sharing of relevant information. The defense ministry has committed to formulating detailed measures to implement the committee's recommendations and will undertake necessary legal and organizational actions in phases to complete the reform by the end of the year.