Internal Security Forces (Menghe)
| Internal Security Forces of Menghe 대멩 사회주의 공화국 국내 보안 부대 Dae Meng Sahoejuŭi Gonghwaguk Guknae Boan Budae | |
|---|---|
| File:Internal Security Forces swords.png Emblem of the National Security Forces | |
| Active | March 5, 2007 - Present |
| Country | Menghe |
| Type | Gendarmerie |
| Role | Upholding public order, combating terrorism |
| Size | 400,000 |
| Colours | Red, Green |
| Commanders | |
| Central Commander | General Cha Wŏn-sik |
| Insignia | |
| Armband and vehicle marking | File:Naean.png |
The Internal Security Forces (Menghean: 국내 보안 부대 / 國內保安部隊, Guknae Boan Budae, often abbreviated Naeandae or represented with Gomun characters 內安 (내안)) are a Menghean paramilitary police force under the direct authority of the Ministry of Internal Security. Though similar in function to a gendarmerie, they are organizationally separate from the Menghean Army and the Menghean National Police Agency.
In contrast to Menghean regular police units, personnel of the Internal Security Forces are organized under a centralized command structure rather than local jurisdictions. They also have better equipment and training, and are usually seen with sidearms or heavier weapons. They can usually be distinguished by their azure dress uniforms, in contrast to the Army’s olive green uniforms and the Police’s light blue dress shirts.
History
The Internal Security Forces were merged together from a variety of separate security units in 2007. Prior to that time, their duties were combined between the Gunchal, the National Police Agency, the General-Directorate of Border Control, and agents of the National Railway Service and Internal Intelligence Agency.
For many outside the political system, this major reorganization suggested that Choe Sŭng-min had lost faith in the existing leadership of Menghe’s security agencies. The decision for reform came about several months after the deadly 2006 metro bombings in Gyŏngsan, which were seen as a profound failure of security screening and counterterrorism. Sŏk Gi-nam, who was appointed Minister of Internal Security in 2005, resigned from his post shortly after this incident, likely under pressure from other members of the Supreme Council.
In 2015, peacetime leadership of the Maritime Patrol Forces was transferred from the Menghean Navy to the Internal Security Forces, apparently in response to the Navy’s poor handling of coastal security during and after the Innominadan Crisis.
Missions
The official mission of the Internal Security Forces is to uphold public order at the national level, protecting the security of the Menghean state and its citizens. The force's broader responsibilities include:
- Protecting key institutions, buildings, and personnel from attack
- Maintaining public order through non-lethal operations against protests, riots, and public disturbances
- Assisting the General-Directorate for Immigration and Personal Registration with border patrol and border security
- Providing backup for the National Police in high-risk situations
- Combating terrorism and separatist activity; and
- Suppressing insurgent groups, armed insurrections, and mutinies of government forces.
Subordinate Bodies
In order to fulfill such a wide variety of missions, the Internal Security Forces are divided into a number of specialized subordinate bodies, described below:
National Armed Police
Menghe's National Armed Police (무장 경찰 부대, Mujang Gyŏngchal Budae) are a central police force similar in role to federal police in other countries, though Menghe itself is not a federal country. The National Armed Police are part of the Internal Security Forces but are dispersed around the country, unlike regular police officers in Menghe, who are subordinate to Prefectural-level police departments. As their name indicates, officers of the National Armed Police carry sidearms and are trained in the use of other military firearms. They may serve as a backup force for local police units which encounter armed criminal opposition.
The National Armed Police also contains Menghe's National Criminal Investigation Unit, which is used to investigate crimes reaching beyond the prefectural level, and coordinates with local law enforcement agencies and the Rapid Response Brigades against drug trafficking, arms trafficking, and organized crime.
Internal Guards
The Internal Guards (내부 보초 부대, Naebu Bocho Budae) are a separate department of the Internal Security Forces tasked with guarding important buildings and installations, including the headquarters of government agencies, important national monuments, and nuclear power plants. They also provide security for the VIP convoys of high-ranking government officials and foreign dignitaries. They are not responsible for security around military bases and airfields, a duty still handled by the Gunchal. The Internal Guards are the most visible component of the Internal Security Forces, often seen in public outside prominent buildings.
Railway Police
Menghe's Railway Police (철도 경찰, Chŏldo Gyŏngchal) were established in 2007, taking over the duties of the Security Bureau of the National Railroad Corporation. Their main duty is to protect railways, trains, and passengers against foreign sabotage and terrorist attacks, but they also combat more minor crimes, such as vandalism, pickpocketing, ticket fraud, unsafe behavior near tracks, and trespassing in restricted areas. After 2009, when a high-speed train derailed in East Chŏnro province, Menghe's Railway Police also been responsible for ensuring that train drivers and other railway employees are complying with national safety regulations.
Border Patrol Forces
The Border Patrol Forces (국경 순찰대, Gukkyŏng Sunchaldae) are responsible for preventing the unauthorized flow of persons and goods across Menghe's borders. Although the Border Patrol Forces are administratively separate from the General Directorate of Immigration and Personal Registration, which is responsible for checking entrants' passports and bags at official border crossings and ports of entry, personnel of the two departments regularly coordinate on entry point security. The Border Patrol Forces also conduct regular patrols of border areas in between crossing points, often with police dogs or offroad military vehicles.
Rapid Response Brigades
The Rapid Response Brigades (신속 대응 여단/ 迅速對應旅團, Sinsok Daeŭng Yŏndan) are paramilitary riot police and counter-insurgency forces subordinate to the Ministry of Internal Security. Unlike other personnel in the Internal Security Forces, they wear grey uniforms and vehicle livery, much like the Gunchal, from which they inherited their duties. Rapid Response Brigade units are dispersed in battalion-level groups around the country, and can be mobilized in response to a riot or threat of public unrest.
Special Response Tactical Units
The Special Response Tactical Units (특별 대응 전술 부대, Tŭkbyŏl Daeŭng Jŏnsul Budae, sometimes abbreviated TDJB) are a SWAT-type force of highly trained personnel, mostly drawn from volunteer veterans of the Rapid Response Brigades or the Menghean Army. They have better training and equipment than the Rapid Response Brigades, and handle high-risk missions such as hostage rescue and counter-hijacking.
Personnel
In 2016, the total strength of the Internal Security Forces was estimated at 500,000 personnel, though fewer than half of these were in Rapid Response units. This is roughly one-sixth the size of the Menghean Army’s active personnel count.
Like the Menghean Army, but unlike the National Police, the Internal Security Forces rely on conscription for most of their personnel. In this regard, service in the Internal Security Forces is an alternative to service in the Menghean Army, and both arms can fulfill a male citizen’s two-year service requirement. Administrative positions are filled by volunteers or ex-servicemen, and do not count toward the service requirement.
Uniforms
Most personnel of the Internal Security Forces appear in public in an azure dress uniform with gold rank insignia. This is the most widely known NA uniform, worn by guards, armed police units, and border control soldiers. Railway police wear the same uniform, but with dark green rank insignia. Administrative officials wear a similar uniform, with the addition of a white sash and gold aiguilettes. Helicopter pilots wear a flight suit in the same colors.
Patrol cars and helicopters operated by the Internal Security Forces are usually painted dark blue, with a horizontal white line and the Gomun characters “內安” (Naean, Internal Security) on the sides. Regular police vehicles are painted a combination of black and white and bear the characters “경찰” (Gyongchal, police).
The main exception to this rule are the Rapid Response Brigades. In line with their Gunchal origins, these personnel wear grey dress and service uniforms, sometimes complemented with black riot-control gear. Their vehicles and APCs are painted in the same shade of grey, with insignia marked in black.
The Special Response Tactical Units, who wear black gear and uniforms, are another exception. In their off-duty uniforms, they are sometimes mistaken for personnel of the Internal Intelligence Agency.
Allegations of favoritism in hiring
Some Internal Security Forces personnel, including those in the rapid response units, are barracked; others, such as those assigned guard duty, are allowed to live at their own residence when off-duty. NA guard duty is also considered to be among the safest service obligations, given its distance from battlefield danger, and it is highly sought-after by well-connected individuals.
In 2011, the General-Directorate for Discipline Inspection – also a body of the Ministry of Internal Security, but separate from the Internal Security Forces – arrested several high-ranking politicians on charges that they had bribed military bureaucrats to have their sons placed in NA guard units. The Party Center strongly endorsed this move, publishing a statement that condemned service evasion as an “unpatriotic evasion of duty,” but it is widely believed that favoritism in assignment still persists. Online figures published by the General-Directorate for Discipline Inspection showed that in 2016, the sons of Party officials held a disproportionate share of NA guard duty positions, often in the same city or agency as their fathers.