North Korea to expand functions of spy agency to ‘control’ enemy threats

North Korea’s ruling party military commission has called for expanding the functions of the country’s intelligence bureau, state media reported Friday.

The proposal was put forward during the first enlarged meeting of the ninth Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea a day earlier, KCNA reported.

According to the report, the meeting, chaired by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, “suggested tasks and ways for expanding in a many-sided way the functions and missions of the General Reconnaissance and Intelligence Bureau” (GRIB).

The bureau “plays a pivotal role in controlling the potential enemies' threats and gathering key information, and enhancing its capability of military reconnaissance and intelligence activities in a radical way.”

According to Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency, “North Korea is believed to have expanded the General Reconnaissance Bureau, the country’s spy agency, into the GRIB, in a bid to strengthen its capabilities of collecting and analyzing external intelligence.”

“The GRIB's existence first came to light in September (2025), and its chief, Ri Chang-ho, was detected leading overseas operations units during a military parade in Pyongyang on Feb. 25 (this year), marking the ninth congress of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea.”