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North Korea The Public Security Apparatus
The Ministry of Public Security and the State Security
Department are responsible for internal security. Although both
are government organs, they are tightly controlled by the party
apparatus through the Justice and Security Commission and the
penetration of their structures by the party apparatus at all
levels. The formal public security structure is augmented by a
pervasive system of informers throughout the society.
Surveillance of citizens, both physical and electronic, also is
routine.
The Ministry of Public Security, responsible for internal
security, social control, and basic police functions, is one of
the most powerful organizations in North Korea and controls an
estimated 144,000 public security personnel. It maintains law and
order; investigates common criminal cases; manages the prison
system and traffic control; monitors citizens' political
attitudes; conducts background investigations, census, and civil
registrations; controls individual travel; manages the
government's classified documents; protects government and party
officials; and patrols government buildings and some government
and party construction activities.
The ministry has vice ministers for personnel, political
affairs, legal counselling, security, surveillance, internal
affairs, rear services, and engineering. There are approximately
twenty-seven bureaus, but the functional responsibilities of only
some of the bureaus are known. The Security Bureau is responsible
for ordinary law enforcement and most police functions. The
Investigation Bureau handles investigations of criminal and
economic crimes. The Protection Bureau is responsible for fire
protection, traffic control, public health, and customs. The
Registration Bureau issues citizen identification cards and
maintains public records on births, deaths, marriages, residence
registration, and passports.
Below the ministry level, there are public security bureaus
for each province and directly administered city. These bureaus
are headed by either a senior colonel or a lieutenant colonel of
police, depending on the size of the population. Public security
departments at each city or county and smaller substations
through the country are staffed by about 100 personnel. They are
organized roughly parallel to the ministry itself and have
several divisions responsible for carrying out various functions.
In 1973 political security responsibilities were transferred
from the Ministry of Public Security to the State Security
Department, an autonomous agency reporting directly to Kim Il
Sung. The State Security Department carries out a wide range of
counterintelligence and internal security functions normally
associated with "secret police." It is charged with searching out
antistate criminals--a general category that includes those
accused of antigovernment and dissident activities, economic
crimes, and slander of the political leadership. Camps for
political prisoners are under its jurisdiction. It has
counterintelligence responsibilities at home and abroad, and runs
overseas intelligence collection operations. It monitors
political attitudes and maintains surveillance of returnees.
Ministry personnel escort high-ranking officials. The ministry
also guards national borders and monitors international entry
points. The degree of control it exercises over the Political
Security Bureaus of the KPA--which has representatives at all
levels of command--is unclear.
The Border Guards are the paramilitary force of the Ministry
of Public Security. They are primarily concerned with monitoring
the border and with internal security. The latter activities
include physical protection of government buildings and
facilities. During a conflict, they would probably be used in
border and rear area security missions.
Data as of June 1993
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