Kim Kyuhyun, Nominee for NIS Director, "Will Significantly Strengthen North Korea Intelligence Capabilities"

National Assembly Intelligence Committee Candidate Kim's Confirmation Hearing
"Will Become a Top-Tier Intelligence Agency Like Mossad"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Kim Gyu-hyun, the nominee for the Director of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), stated on the 25th, "If appointed as the Director, I will significantly strengthen North Korea intelligence capabilities, including early detection of North Korean movements and provocations, and closely monitor major developments affecting the Korean Peninsula’s situation and interests involving the United States, China, Japan, and Russia, providing necessary information promptly and appropriately."

During his opening remarks at the parliamentary confirmation hearing that day, Kim said, "The most important mission of the new government’s NIS Director is to reform the organization so that the NIS focuses more on collecting and analyzing intelligence on North Korea and overseas as an agency that protects national security and interests."

He added, "Our country faces challenges that the NIS must counter, including not only North Korea’s threats but also the US-China strategic conflict, the Ukraine crisis, global supply chain disruptions, and cyber threats," emphasizing strengthening intelligence capabilities as the top priority.

He also expressed his ambition to make the NIS a first-class intelligence agency like Israel’s Mossad. He said, "We will thoroughly prepare for pandemics, climate change, and supply chain crises, and strengthen scientific intelligence areas such as AI and big data," adding, "I will reform the NIS to become a first-class intelligence agency like Mossad, which contributes to invoking Israel among Arab countries." He continued, "The NIS is completely separated from domestic politics, and I believe there is no distinction between ruling and opposition parties in foreign and security affairs," and added, "I will frequently provide detailed briefings on security situations through the National Assembly’s Intelligence Committee to ensure bipartisan cooperation on national security."

Referring to President Yoon Suk-yeol’s inaugural address, he emphasized, "To respond to recent realities where difficult issues are hard for any single country to solve independently, we will closely cooperate with overseas intelligence agencies such as those of the United States and Japan."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.