Moon visits S. Korea's spy agency for briefing on its reform steps

SEOUL, June 4 (Yonhap) -- President Moon Jae-in visited the headquarters of South Korea's state spy agency in southern Seoul and received a briefing on its reform measures Friday.

It was Moon's second visit to the National Intelligence Service (NIS) since he took office in May 2017.

Reforming the powerful body is one of his major campaign pledges. The NIS was accused of having been a hotbed of deep-rooted evils, including operations to oppress political dissidents.

Under a revision to the NIS-related law in late 2020, the agency is prohibited from undertaking domestic surveillance operations. It is instead required to focus its capacity on collecting information related to North Korea and overseas interests.

The liberal Moon administration describes the move as the rebirth of the NIS.

Park Jie-won, director of the NIS, reported to the president that it has reorganized the overall operation system to place more emphasis on such fields as counterterrorism, cybersecurity and space, according to Cheong Wa Dae.

The agency's capability on gathering and analyzing science-linked information has been improved, with a special program to train "white hackers" running in local mission centers, Park added.

Regarding its obligation to transfer the right to investigate illegal pro-Pyongyang activities to the police, the two authorities are conducting a joint probe this year with the aim of completing the transition by the end of 2023.

The president replied that the NIS is now back as an intelligence agency for the state and the people, and called on it to become a "future-oriented" body faithful to its duty.

Moon then attended a ceremony to unveil a stone with the agency's new motto inscribed, as it marks the 60th founding anniversary next week. It reads, "Serving Our Nation and People with Unwavering Loyalty and Devotion."

Moon made his previous visit to the NIS in July 2018.

lcd@yna.co.kr
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