Kim set to upgrade spy, anti-West networks

Kim Jong-un wants his spies to up their game.

North Korea is believed to have pulled off some major intelligence feats over the years. Its 2014 hack of Sony Pictures ballooned into a national security crisis for the US In 2016, Pyongyang’s hackers stole US-South Korea military plans. The following year, North Korean spies were blamed for orchestrating the assassination of Kim’s half-brother in Malaysia.

But despite such cases, North Korea is underequipped in intelligence gathering, lacking an extensive international web of spies and tools such as a global satellite network.

Now, Kim wants to address that. In a rare mention of the country’s spy program earlier this month, he presided over a meeting that called for “radical” enhancements to North Korea’s military reconnaissance and intelligence capabilities, according to state media. The goal is to better control the threats from potential enemies and gather key information, state media said.

Pyongyang didn’t further elaborate on the future mandate for North Korea’s spy agency, a vast organisation consolidated just before Kim took power in 2011. But last year, the group was renamed, adding the word “intelligence” to become the “General Reconnaissance and Intelligence Bureau.” That suggests the Kim regime is eager to expand its covert operations overseas. Traditional spying, hacking operations and spy satellites all fall under the body.

Pyongyang has denied involvement in overseas hacking attacks and in the death of Kim’s half-brother.

North Korea suffers from major intelligence deficiencies. The country has far fewer embassies than the US and other Western nations. As of 2024, North Korea had 43 diplomatic posts abroad, compared with 271 for the US, according to the Lowy Institute. As a result, Pyongyang lacks the embassy personnel who could gather intelligence abroad.

Constrained by global sanctions that cut the country off from the international banking system, North Korea’s spies must generate their own funding through crypto heists, former Kim regime officials say.

Moreover, North Korea doesn’t have the massive satellite networks that allow countries like the US and Russia to undertake advanced reconnaissance. As a result, an immediate priority for Kim is establishing a network of spy satellites. Pyongyang has placed just one spy satellite into orbit, leaving it a long way from the constellation needed for meaningful reconnaissance. Public satellite data from Google Earth is more comprehensive than the imagery Pyongyang can collect.

Russia is sharing its satellite expertise with North Korea in return for Pyongyang’s decision to send troops to help Moscow in its war against Ukraine, South Korea’s spy agency said.

North Korea could also establish a relationship with Russia and China similar to Five Eyes, the intelligence-sharing network including the US, the UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, said Joseph Bermudez Jr., a North Korea analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Russian and North Korean cyber operatives are already collaborating on malware, cybersecurity experts say.

“Cyberwarriors could concentrate on a different part of the world and share the information,” Bermudez said. “It’s a division of labour in obtaining classified data.” Kim has signalled an interest in working with like-minded nations.

Historically, North Korean diplomats and trade representatives stationed abroad have acted as de facto arms dealers and intelligence couriers. North Korean hackers who have attempted to breach defence contractors and government organisations sometimes operate from countries Pyongyang has diplomatic ties with, including Russia and China, according to United Nations reports.

Kim is engaging in “extraordinary diplomatic initiatives” to broaden North Korea’s presence overseas, said Chun In-bum, a retired South Korean army general.

The Kim regime is expanding ties with other countries that are opponents of the US Kim held his first summit in March with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russia. Belarus plans to open its first embassy in Pyongyang by next month.

An expanded diplomatic presence will allow North Korea’s spy agency to eavesdrop more on overseas communications, Chun said.

“North Korea isn’t bound by international ethical norms, so their activities will expand through hacking and stealing,” he said. “Their greatest advantage is that the Western world underestimates them.”

The Wall Street Journal