Intelligence Security Headquarters

Intelligence Security Headquarters

정보보안본부 情報保安本部
Agency overview
Formed	15 March 2024 (2024-03-15)
Type	Independent
Jurisdiction	Government of the Great Kingdom of Joseon
Headquarters	Bundang-gu, Seongnam city, Gyeonggi-do province
Motto	We are shadows who work for the light
Employees	Classified
Annual budget	Classified
Minister responsible	Yoon Joohee, Director of the Intelligence Security Headquarters
Parent agency	Prime minister of Joseon

Intelligence Security Headquarters(ISH, Korean: 정보보안본부) is an intelligence agency under the Joseon administration whose main mission is to collect signal information, technical information, and other important national security information. While the National Intelligence Service(NIS) and Defense Intelligence Agency(DIA) focus on OSINT(Open Source Intelligence) and HUMINT(Human Intelligence), IHS focuses on collecting and analyzing signal information and technical information of enemies or internal spies using high-tech equipment. The headquarters is located in Bundang-gu, Seongnam city, Gyeonggi-do province, and information on other facilities is confidential.

The ISH was established in the aftermath of the November Incident, an attempted coup that occurred in November 2023. When a coup attempt aimed at overthrowing the government occurred inside NIS, which had monopolized the powerful information management authority, concerns over NIS's monopoly over the authority became a hot topic in the government and civil society, and the Joseon government separated the NIS from its intelligence collection and analysis mission to establish the ISH.

History

The "November Incident" is an attempted coup led by On Soo-Chan, the deputy director of NIS. On Soo-Chan used some of the NIS insiders he had recruited and the information collected by NIS in the coup attempt, which raised concerns in society about NIS's monopoly of information.

Prime Minister Park Johan's administration pushed for the establishment of an independent agency exclusively responsible for intelligence collection and analysis to prevent NIS from monopolizing information and attempting political intervention or coup d'etat. The process was actively led by Lee Jae-Yeon, the 16th prime minister and current deputy prime minister, and NIS has begun the process of transferring personnel and equipment for intelligence collection and analysis to new agencies.

On March 15, 2024, ISH was officially established and went on a mission. Yoon Joohee, the first director of ISH, is a former lieutenant general who once served as commander of the DIC(Defense Intelligence Command), a division under the DIA.

Major tasks

ISH's main task is to collect and analyze various information in other countries or within Joseon. This includes gathering information on ciphers and communications of other countries, information on electronic information, and trends in international terrorist organizations or international criminal organizations. Also, ISH analyzes security vulnerabilities of government agencies and companies in Joseon and complements them.