{"id":53001,"date":"2022-10-13T18:00:47","date_gmt":"2022-10-13T09:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/?p=53001"},"modified":"2026-04-06T13:50:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T04:50:10","slug":"north-korean-security-agency-surveillance-research-center-renamed-expanded","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korean-security-agency-surveillance-research-center-renamed-expanded\/","title":{"rendered":"N. Korean security agency’s surveillance research center renamed and expanded"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Ministry of State Security\u2019s Information and Communication Research Institute was recently renamed and expanded into the Information and Communications Strategy Research Center. Accordingly, work is reportedly underway to move the center from the capital Pyongyang to Hyangsan County, North Pyongan Province.<\/span><\/p>\n

A Daily NK source in North Korea said Tuesday that the Ministry of State Security\u2019s Organization Department issued a decision on Oct. 3 calling for the renaming of the research lab \u201cin accordance with a ratification [by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un],\u201d and that work on moving the institute has been underway since Oct. 6.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, the Ministry of State Security\u2019s Organization Department reportedly submitted a written proposal last month calling for the Information and Communication Research Institute to be renamed the Information and Communications Strategy Research Center and expanded into a \u201cspecialized research unit to establish a general strategy for information and communications surveillance.\u201d It appears that <\/span>Kim Jong Un eventually ratified the proposal.<\/span><\/p>\n

The existing Information and Communication Research Institute, while formally just a research institution, was in fact a small-scale surveillance organization operating under the ministry\u2019s communication bureau, collecting specific intelligence designated by the ministry and regularly reporting wiretap data on selected targets. However, the source said that with the expansion of the institute into the Information and Communications Strategy Research Center, the organization will implement more detailed surveillance strategies in addition to its existing duties.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the source, the center \u2014 as a general domestic information and communications surveillance body operating directly under the Ministry of State Security \u2014 will perform the following duties:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n