North Korea’s primary internal security and counterintelligence agency, known domestically as the bowibu. Established in its current form in 1973, the agency reports directly to the Supreme Leader and operates outside the normal judicial system. It is responsible for political surveillance, suppression of dissent, management of political prison camps, monitoring of foreign media consumption, counter-defection operations, and investigation of economic crimes. In early 2026, the agency was renamed the State Information Bureau, reportedly to project a more institutionalized image while expanding its intelligence mandate.
Tag: ministry of state security
North Korean agents pressure Chinese phone users as quarterly reviews loom
State security agents in North Korea's border region are ramping up efforts to catch Chinese mobile phone users ahead of their upcoming quarterly performance...
Fear of purges spreads as North Korea targets veteran China traders
North Korea is probing trading companies in North Pyongan province in charge of trade with China. The move appears aimed at tightening the regime's...
N. Korea’s Kim Jong Un orders workplace safety reforms after steel...
When a serious accident occurred at a North Korean steel mill on a national holiday, Kim Jong Un was immediately briefed about what happened.
"Amid...
From restaurants to IT: How China is restricting North Korean business...
While relations between North Korea and China seem to be improving, things aren't quite back to normal. The Chinese government is now restricting North...
Pyongyang intensifies monitoring with written pledges for informants
North Korea is actively considering a plan to increase security personnel monitoring its overseas workers by up to four times current levels, particularly those...
N. Korea tightens control over workers in Russia
North Korean authorities have intensified surveillance of workers dispatched to Russia, immediately repatriating those caught accessing foreign content. This crackdown is creating a climate...
North Korean youth risk arrest for speaking like South Koreans
North Korean authorities are doing everything they can to stop the spread of South Korean pop culture, or hallyu, but young people keep using...
N. Korea’s underground economy crackdown intensifies
Following a major party meeting last month, North Korea has ordered a sweeping "mop-up operation" against Chinese-made mobile phone users near the China border,...
N. Korean agents punished over Russia corruption
Two North Korean state security agents, Han Kwang Jin and Song Myong Nam, have been demoted and transferred after being recalled from Russia amid...
N. Korea executes 23 defense workers in brutal crackdown
North Korea's state security department has taken an ultra-hardline stance against "counterrevolutionary acts" at munitions factories in Jagang province earlier this year.
Families of security...
