As soon as the cabinet of the new Japanese Prime Minister sanae takaichi was established, it quickly promoted an agenda. Japanese political circles reported on October 24th that sanae takaichi had instructed Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara to discuss the establishment of a brand-new central intelligence command organization "National Intelligence Agency".
Takaichi sanae's move is seen as an intention to create a "Japanese version of CIA" similar to the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) or the South Korean National Intelligence Agency (NIS), integrating the intelligence forces currently scattered in various departments of the Japanese government.
Analysts said:
The "National Intelligence Agency" will be directly managed by the Prime Minister
The instructions were confirmed by the Japanese Cabinet Chief of Staff of the Cabinet at a press conference on October 24. According to reports, the Chief of Staff of the Cabinet said he had received instructions from the Prime Minister of High City to ask for “strengthening the function of the government’s overall intelligence command tower.”
Minoru Kihara said: "Faced with the most severe and complex security environment since the end of World War II, improving national intelligence capabilities is an urgent issue to protect national interests and ensure people's safety." He said the government hoped to "sort out the key points of discussion about the envisaged new intelligence agency as soon as possible", including its specific powers, and cooperate with the ruling coalition.
According to the blueprint, the new "National Intelligence Agency" will not be set up in vain, but will be created by restructuring and upgrading the existing cabinet intelligence office in Japan.
According to the report, the level of the new agency will be the same as that of the Japanese National Security Agency (NSS), which was established in 2014 and is responsible for Japan's foreign and security policy, and its head, the "National Intelligence Director", will also be raised to the same level as the "National Security Director".
According to Japanese analysts, the director of national intelligence will be "directly under the jurisdiction" of the Japanese Prime Minister and Chief Cabinet Secretary. According to the analysis, this move is intended to "strengthen the intelligence activities led by the Prime Minister's residence".
In addition, the new Japanese government plans to create a "National Intelligence Conference" consisting of ministers from relevant departments such as the Police Department, Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Defense Ministry, and the National Intelligence Bureau will be responsible for the actual operation of the meeting.
Three is not desired.
Or solve the problem of "numerous mountains" in Japan's intelligence system
According to the analysis, the reason why the new Japanese government is eager to promote this reform is that Japan's current intelligence system has the problems of "numerous hills" and scattered functions.
At present, Japan's intelligence activities are scattered in the Cabinet Intelligence Investigation Office, the police public security department, the International Intelligence General Organization of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Intelligence Headquarters of the Ministry of Defense, and the Public Security Investigation Office of the Foreign Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Justice.
The report pointed out that although these agencies will provide information to the "National Security Bureau" when necessary, "the functions of unified command and summary are not yet sufficient." Another report also pointed out that Japan's existing National Security Agency is "insufficient in scale and ability in unified collection and implementation of intelligence".
The newly-established National Intelligence Agency is said to be responsible for using a variety of means, including “human intelligence,” satellite intelligence analysis and massive information analysis, to prevent “theft of confidential information by forces that threaten national security.”
Previously, establishing a strong intelligence agency directly managed by the central government has always been a "long-cherished wish" of Japanese conservative politicians.
Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attempted to establish a central intelligence agency, but due to public opposition and political sensitivity, he eventually limited the establishment to a few small anti-terrorism intelligence gathering units.
According to the analysis, for sanae takaichi, strengthening intelligence ability was her promise when she ran for president of the Liberal Democratic Party.
This plan was clearly written into the "Joint Governing Agreement" signed by the Japanese People's Party and its new governing partner Vichy this month, which pledged to "promote the upgrading of the cabinet intelligence investigation room to the National Intelligence Agency" at the next (2026) regular congress.
Red Star reporter Deng Xiaoyu, Global Times
Edited by Penny.
Audit by Zhao