The Defense Ministry on Friday notified individual personnel of their unit reassignment results ahead of the dissolution of the Defense Counterintelligence Command. The Defense Counterintelligence Command in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province. [Yonhap]
The Defense Ministry on Friday notified individual personnel of their unit reassignment results ahead of the dissolution of the Defense Counterintelligence Command. The Defense Counterintelligence Command in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province. [Yonhap]

With one week remaining before the dissolution of the Defense Counterintelligence Command, the military has completed the reassignment of its soldiers and civilian employees to new units.

The Defense Ministry said Friday it had individually notified command personnel of their unit reassignment results. After the dissolution, personnel will be redistributed among the newly established Defense Counterintelligence Headquarters and Defense Security Support Group, the existing Defense Ministry Investigation Headquarters, and their respective home branches.

Under the reassignment, roughly half of the command's authorized strength will move to the counterintelligence headquarters, while about 200 personnel will be assigned to the security support group and around 160 to the investigation headquarters. More than 460 military officers will return to their original branches.

A Defense Ministry official said personnel were given four options — the three restructured intelligence agencies or a return to their home branch — and asked to submit their preferences. "We adjusted unit assignments by comprehensively considering each individual's wishes, career background, service record and future utility," the official said.

Some concerns have been raised, however, that personnel returning to their home branches may face adjustment difficulties and potential personnel disadvantages, as their counterintelligence specialties differ from the roles typically assigned in those branches.

The Defense Ministry official said the military plans to provide job orientation and transfer training under each branch's supervision to help returning personnel adapt to their new environment. "We will carefully track and manage those who have returned to their branches to ensure no disadvantages arise in their personnel management," the official said.

The counterintelligence headquarters will handle counterintelligence, defense industry intelligence and cybersecurity, while the security support group will be responsible for security audits and incident investigations at corps-level and higher units.

Both the counterintelligence headquarters and the security support group are set to launch Friday, the same day the Defense Counterintelligence Command will be officially dissolved.


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