Prime Minister's Office of Japan
The government's proposed structure for a new national intelligence agency was revealed through multiple interviews with government officials. It is intended to serve as the central command for Japan's intelligence activities.
Under current plans, the agency would be established within the Cabinet Secretariat, and the government plans to amend the Cabinet Act during the regular Diet session scheduled to convene on January 23.
Currently, the director of Cabinet Information holds the rank of an administrative vice minister. In contrast, the newly established director of the national intelligence agency will be elevated to the rank of parliamentary vice minister and tasked with building high-level cooperative relationships with foreign intelligence agencies.
The new agency will be placed on equal footing with the National Security Secretariat (NSS), which currently serves as the command center for foreign and security policy.
Comparable to the head of the NSS, the national intelligence agency director will hold the status of a political appointee.
From Structure to Strategy
Following its establishment, the intelligence agency will lead efforts to enact an anti-espionage law and to establish a foreign intelligence office (tentative name), as stipulated in the coalition agreement between the Liberal Democratic Party and the Ishin no Kai.
The plan also calls for the establishment of a national intelligence council composed of relevant ministers, with the national intelligence agency serving as its secretariat.
Chaired by the prime minister, the council is expected to include the following members:
Acting Prime Minister, Chief Cabinet Secretary, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Minister of Defense, Minister of Finance, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Minister of Justice, the Chairperson of the National Public Safety Commission, and the minister in charge of financial services.
In addition to overseeing intelligence activities, the agency would establish basic counterintelligence policies. These include measures to counter foreign influence operations, as well as comprehensive analysis and evaluation of major incidents.
Breaking Bureaucratic Silos
In early February, the government plans to approve the establishment of the National Intelligence Council and submit the necessary legislation to the regular Diet session to formalize the process.
The law obliges each ministry and agency to provide materials and information to the council and stipulates that they must offer necessary cooperation at the prime minister's request.
Within the government, there are multiple intelligence bodies, including the National Police Agency, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office, the Public Security Intelligence Agency, and the Ministry of Defense. The legislation is intended to prevent any one ministry or agency from hoarding information.
Japan has often been criticized for insufficient budgets and personnel devoted to intelligence activities, resulting in a heavy reliance on information provided by the United States.
The latest development is expected to enhance intelligence-gathering and analytical capacity, better positioning the country to adapt to shifts in the security environment.
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Author: The Sankei Shimbun
(Read this in Japanese)
