Japan to Create Ministerial Post for Intelligence
Japan plans to create a ministerial post for intelligence-related matters as part of efforts to enhance its ability to collect and analyse domestic and foreign information, government officials said Tuesday (December 9).
- The new minister will supervise a national intelligence bureau designed to centralize information from various government agencies.
- This bureau is planned for establishment by July 2026 and will be an upgrade of the current Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office.
- The new intelligence bureau will be granted the authority to instruct other government bodies, including the Foreign and Defence Ministries, to provide information.
- The government plans to submit the necessary legislation to the Diet during its next ordinary session to enact the changes.
The minister would supervise an envisioned national intelligence bureau, to which information from the intelligence divisions of government agencies would be gathered.
The government plans to set up the bureau as early as July 2026 by upgrading the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office.
The bureau, which will have its administrative head, will be granted the authority to instruct other government agencies, including the Foreign Ministry, the Defence Ministry, the National Police Agency and the Justice Ministry, to provide information.
The government will submit related legislation to the Diet, the country's parliament, hoping that the measure will be enacted during the ordinary session to be convened next month.
The existing Cabinet Intelligence Committee, headed by the chief cabinet secretary, will be remade into a national intelligence council, involving the prime minister and some other ministers.
The government is also considering enacting espionage prevention legislation and establishing a foreign intelligence agency.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
