North Korea vows to bolster military intelligence capabilities

SEOUL, July 10 (UPI) -- North Korea will significantly expand the role of its main military intelligence agency, state-run media reported Friday, as Pyongyang steps up efforts to modernize its armed forces and strengthen its reconnaissance capabilities while maintaining a hard-line stance against South Korea.

The announcement came during the first enlarged meeting of the Ninth Central Military Commission in Pyongyang, where leader Kim Jong Un discussed measures to bolster the Korean People's Army's combat readiness, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

"The meeting suggested tasks and ways for expanding in a many-sided way the functions and missions of the General Reconnaissance and Intelligence Bureau, which plays a pivotal role in controlling the potential enemies' threats and gathering key information," KCNA said.

Among the goals were "enhancing its capability of military reconnaissance and intelligence activities in a radical way," the report added.

North Korea is believed to have reorganized the Reconnaissance General Bureau into the General Reconnaissance and Intelligence Bureau last year. The new name was first confirmed in a public statement in September 2025, South Korea's Unification Ministry said Friday.

"It is presumed to be an organization created through an expansion and restructuring of the former General Reconnaissance Bureau," ministry deputy spokeswoman Chang Yoon-jeong said during a regular briefing.

"We will closely monitor developments related to the expansion of the functions and duties mentioned at the meeting together with relevant agencies," she said.

North Korea did not specify what the expansion would involve, but the bureau has long overseen military intelligence, overseas espionage and covert operations. It has also played a prominent role in cyber campaigns targeting governments, defense contractors and cryptocurrency exchanges, while cyber theft has helped finance Pyongyang's illicit weapons programs.

The North has also invested heavily in drones, electronic warfare and other asymmetric capabilities designed to offset the conventional military advantages of South Korea and the United States.

The move follows Kim's decision in late 2023 to redefine inter-Korean relations as those between "two hostile states," prompting the dismantling or reorganization of most North Korean institutions responsible for dialogue and exchanges with Seoul.

The commission also approved measures to upgrade combat systems, modernize training and expand the country's nuclear forces "both in quality and quantity."

North Korea has repeatedly cited the U.S.-South Korea alliance as justification for its nuclear weapons program, which it says is necessary for deterrence.

On Thursday, KCNA condemned growing trilateral security cooperation among the United States, South Korea and Japan, saying the expansion of its nuclear arsenal was "the only way to actively cope with the acute and unpredictably changing international situation."

At the meeting, Kim signed seven written orders implementing major military decisions, according to KCNA.

"The security and peace of the country and the people cannot be defended with the willingness alone," Kim said. "Only when we build the strong army and control all and contain threats with its powerful strength, is it possible to achieve the true peace."

The meeting also discussed accelerating construction of modern naval bases, expanding shipyard capacity and ordering troops to participate in major state construction projects, including the redevelopment of coal-mining regions.