The unit was reorganized into the Defense Counterintelligence Command on 1 November 2022.[1][2]
History
The Defense Counterintelligence Command was formally activated in October 1977 under the name Military Security Command (MSC; Korean: 국군보안사령부; Hanja: 國軍保安司令部).[1][2] This merger of the Army Security Command, the Navy Security Unit, and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations produced a single, integrated unit under the direct command and operational control of the minister of national defense.[1][2]
Chun Doo-hwan became chief of the Defense Security Command (DSC; Korean: 국군기무사령부; Hanja: 國軍機務司令部) in February 1979, eight months before Park Chung-hee was assassinated on October 26, 1979. From his position as commander of the DSC, Chun effectively became chief investigator of the assassination, said Don Oberdorfer in his book The Two Koreas.[11] On December 12, 1979, a group of generals led by Chun arrested martial law commander General Jeong Seung-hwa, the army chief of staff, and seized key sites in the capital.[12]
The DSC's involvement in 1979 was considered and defined as attempt of a coup by state council.[13]
Criticism
On November 11, 2011, the Seoul National Labor Relations Commission exposed a Defense Security Command member who had been illegally collecting the information of civilians registered in the National Health Insurance Corporation for three and a half years.[14]
References
^ abcde"History". Defense Counterintelligence Command. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
^ abcde"연혁". Defense Counterintelligence Command. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
^"Duties". Defense Counterintelligence Command. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
^"Command Spirit". Defense Counterintelligence Command. Retrieved 3 February 2024.