North Korea used the recent 13th International Meeting of High Representatives for Security Issues in Moscow as a strategic opportunity to advance working-level intelligence cooperation with Russia.
A source in Russia reported recently that the North Korean delegation—led by Minister of State Security Ri Chang Dae—held separate working-level meetings on specific topics with Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), and Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces (GRU).
Working-level officials from North Korea’s intelligence and security agencies—including the Ministry of State Security’s domestic and overseas counterintelligence technology departments and the Korean People’s Army’s Military Security Command, Reconnaissance General Bureau, and Electronic Warfare Bureau—had productive discussions with their Russian counterparts about a North Korean proposal for “building an intelligence sharing system and conducting technical cooperation.”
Intelligence sharing agreement takes shape
“Russia’s FSB and SVR proposed a unified channel for sharing intelligence with North Korea, and the North Korean side initially welcomed this while expressing interest in phased working-level discussions that would gradually develop cooperation into a ‘regular agreement on intelligence sharing’ by categorizing intelligence by sector—domestic security, international intelligence, and military intelligence,” the source said.
“In essence, the recent working-level talks between North Korea and Russia created a foundation for structural cooperation to achieve joint operational capabilities between both countries’ intelligence agencies,” he explained. “A North Korean-Russian partnership on information warfare is becoming reality.”
A military source in North Korea said working-level officials sent to Russia as part of the delegation “successfully reported back to Korean People’s Army headquarters that they discussed a plan to establish direct intelligence lines with the GRU for sharing information on the Russia-Ukraine war.” He added that both sides would use this opportunity to “pursue the creation of a mutual strategic intelligence sharing system—including military movements by each country—through follow-up discussions.”
During separate talks with their GRU counterparts, working-level officials from the Korean People’s Army’s Military Security Command, Reconnaissance General Bureau, and Electronic Warfare Bureau reportedly focused on two or three key subjects: real-time sharing of information on the Russia-Ukraine war, interoperability of electronic reconnaissance equipment and communications, and analysis of training videos.
Domestic intelligence restructuring planned
“Even before North Korea deployed troops to Russia, the party issued clear directives to build a new intelligence sharing structure with Russia, and for technical cooperation, it ordered the establishment of regular meetings with the FSB and SVR,” the source said.
Based on the latest agreements with Russia, North Korea plans to strengthen cooperation between its own intelligence agencies. It intends to build a system for consolidating and sharing intelligence between the Ministry of State Security and the Korean People’s Army’s Military Security Command and Reconnaissance General Bureau, centered on the party’s Central Military Commission.
Before sending the delegation to Russia, North Korea formed a temporary task force under the Ministry of State Security to liaise with Russia’s intelligence agencies. Later, North Korea developed a plan to expand this department into a “department of intelligence consolidation technology.”
Meanwhile, North Koreans believe the authorities put the Minister of State Security at the head of the delegation and included working-level intelligence officials of all ranks because intelligence sharing with Russia is strategically important.
“Inside North Korea, there’s a growing understanding that Russia is a comrade in arms with whom we’ll always fight in the trenches as our nuclear military ally,” the source said.
