“If we don’t act now, it will be too late”: Japan is establishing a new intelligence agency

Following the announcement by Japanese Prime Minister Sana Takaichi at the beginning of the week, yesterday (Friday) the National Intelligence Council and the National Intelligence Bureau were established in the country. The Japan Foreign Investment Commission was also launched.

“We are faced with the widespread use of unmanned systems and new forms of warfare in the digital and economic domains,” Takaichi said in her statement from Monday. According to her, these threats include the transfer of technological information to foreign intelligence agents, cyber attacks and the dissemination of disinformation aimed at influencing public opinion in Japan. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

According to the report, the country’s weak espionage laws have made it a focus for the activities of the elite covert unit “20th Directorate” of the Russian military intelligence (GRU). The members of the unit work under the guise of diplomats or businessmen to acquire or steal technologies of military use, such as chips and electronic components, and smuggle them to Russia.

The investigation published by The Times even mentioned Maxim Vladimirovich Pilchenkov, a veteran officer in the Russian intelligence, who operates in Tokyo under the cover of an employee of the Aeroflot airline company. According to Western intelligence sources, Pilchenkov manages the activities of the “20th Directorate” from offices located only a ten-minute walk away – from the headquarters of the Japanese National Police Agency.

According to the Ukrainian government’s estimates, approximately 90% of Russia’s missiles and UAVs include components made in Japan. Last May, Japanese components were found In the guidance system of a Russian missile that hit a residential building in Kiev and killed 24 people.

Despite all of this, Japan is trying to change direction and is promoting a program under Prime Minister Takaichi to strengthen its intelligence capabilities.The smuggling and espionage in the country.

“I was aware of the sense of stagnation that spread in Japan,” Takaichi said on Monday. “A recognition developed within me that Japan is capable of much more and that we must make changes to the existing situation. If we don’t act now, it will be too late.”