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North Korean Policy Elites - Defense Technical Information Center

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The Guard and Security Commands, while institutionally subordinate to the MPAF, are<br />

controlled by the State Security Department. <strong>Information</strong> and intelligence produced by these<br />

Commands serve as a check to that produced by the KWP’s General Political Bureau and are<br />

believed to flow upward through both the MPAF and the State Security Department. Both the<br />

Guard and Security Commands possess small SIGINT components, which are apparently<br />

focused upon internal targets. The level of computerization within these Commands is believed<br />

to be high.<br />

The Reconnaissance Bureau is the primary military intelligence agency within the DPRK.<br />

As such, it utilizes a wide array of methods to collect relevant information and process it into<br />

intelligence, which is then disseminated to varying degrees among the components of the MPAF<br />

and General Staff Department, as well as the National <strong>Defense</strong> Commission. The Internet and<br />

foreign media apparently serve as important sources of information for the Reconnaissance<br />

Bureau.<br />

With regard to information access and dissemination, the Reconnaissance Bureau’s<br />

<strong>Technical</strong>/Radio Department plays a crucial role. This Department, in cooperation with the<br />

Electronic Warfare Bureau, is believed to be the organization exercising overall responsibility<br />

for SIGINT, communications security (COMSEC), EW, and EIW operations within the MPAF.<br />

The number and organization of SIGINT assets within the MPAF is unclear. Ground based<br />

assets are believed to consist of a small number of independent SIGINT collection sites located<br />

throughout the DPRK in areas of high interest (e.g., along the DMZ and the Russian and PRC<br />

borders); the EW/SIGINT battalions within KPA corps; and the EW/SIGINT battalions that exist<br />

within some KPA divisions. In addition to these assets, the <strong>Technical</strong>/Radio Department<br />

exercises some degree of control over KPAF SIGINT collection aircraft and KPN intelligencegathering<br />

vessels (AGIs). Assets subordinate to the <strong>Technical</strong>/Radio Department are responsible<br />

for EIW operations. The Department also coordinates with the MPAF Communications Bureau<br />

and its subordinate units. The relationship and level of coordination and cooperation between the<br />

Reconnaissance Bureau’s <strong>Technical</strong>/Radio Department and the State Security Department’s<br />

Communications Interception Bureau is unknown. The Communications Interception Bureau is<br />

apparently the senior service. The Reconnaissance Bureau and the State Security Department are<br />

believed to be the principal agencies involved in the production of regular translations of foreign<br />

broadcasts. These apparently are disseminated with varying levels of access to the military and<br />

power-holding elite.<br />

As with the State Security Department, the level of computerization within the<br />

Reconnaissance Bureau is believed to be high, with numerous modern desktop and mid-range<br />

computers, the vast majority of which are of Asian manufacture. The availability of Internet<br />

I-22

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