U.S. Forces Korea set to establish ‘Humint’ for gathering N.K. intelligence

U.S. Forces Korea set to establish ‘Humint’ for gathering N.K. intelligence. May. 08, 2017 07:19. by Hyo-Ju Son, Seung-Heon Lee hjson@donga.com,ddr@donga.com.

The U.S. Forces stationed in South Korea is preparing to establish a unit specializing in human intelligence (Humint), it was confirmed on Sunday. The move is aimed at further increasing the accuracy of information on North Korea by adding "information acquired by humans" to their intelligence.

According to the U.S. Forces Korea, the 524th Military Intelligence Battalion, whose main mission is to collect and analyze human intelligence, will be established under the 501st Military Intelligence Brigade of the U.S. Eighth Army in October this year. Thus far, the U.S. troops in South Korea has been engaged in intelligence gathering activities through collection of visual information and eavesdropping of communications by using spy satellites and reconnaissance planes in order to figure out whether North Korea’s military provocations such as nuclear tests are imminent, and to monitor the North’s military facilities including nuclear facilities. As for humint, the U.S. Forces Korea has been mainly relying on information gathered by the South Korean intelligence authorities or U.S. spy agencies such as the CIA.

By operating a unit exclusively responsible for humint going forward, the U.S. Forces Korea is apparently seeking to increase efficiency in intelligence gathering and minimize loopholes in North Korea intelligence.