| Unit Name: | Defense Counterintelligence Command |
| Native Name: | 국군방첩사령부 |
| Dates: | Military Security Command (1977–1990) Defense Security Command (1991–2018) Defense Security Support Command (2018–2022) Defense Counterintelligence Command (2022–present)[1] [2] |
| Garrison: | Gwacheon, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea |
| Type: | ROK Armed Forces Inter-service command |
| Command Structure: | Ministry of Defense |
| Current Commander: | Lt. Gen. Yeo In-hyung |
| Notable Commanders: | General Chun Doo-hwan General Roh Tae-woo Lieutenant General Chang Do-yong[3] |
| Motto: | Limitless Dedication for the Protection of Liberty of the Republic of Korea[4] |
| Website: | Official website in English Official website in Korean |
| Role: | Counterintelligence Counterterrorism Criminal investigation HUMINT Military intelligence[5] |
| Hangul: | 국군방첩사령부 |
| Hanja: | 國軍防諜司令部 |
| Rr: | Gukgun Bangcheop Saryeongbu |
| Mr: | Kukkun Bangch'ŏp Saryŏngbu |
The Republic of Korea Armed Forces's Defense Counterintelligence Command (DCC;) was founded as the Army Counter Intelligence Corps (commonly known as CIC or KACIC;[6] [7] meaning: Special Operation Forces) on 21 October 1950. The DCC is primarily responsible for intelligence missions such as military security, defense industry security and forensic investigations.[8] [9] [10]
The unit was reorganized into the Defense Counterintelligence Command on 1 November 2022.
The Defense Counterintelligence Command was formally activated in October 1977 under the name Military Security Command (MSC;). This merger of the Army Security Command, the Navy Security Unit, and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations produced a single, integrated unit under the direct command and operational control of the minister of national defense.
Chun Doo-hwan became chief of the Defense Security Command (DSC;) in February 1979, eight months before Park Chung-hee was assassinated on October 26, 1979. From his position as commander of the DSC, Chun effectively became chief investigator of the assassination, said Don Oberdorfer in his book The Two Koreas.[11] On December 12, 1979, a group of generals led by Chun arrested martial law commander General Jeong Seung-hwa, the army chief of staff, and seized key sites in the capital.[12]
The DSC's involvement in 1979 was considered and defined as attempt of a coup by state council.[13]
On November 11, 2011, the Seoul National Labor Relations Commission exposed a Defense Security Command member who had been illegally collecting the information of civilians registered in the National Health Insurance Corporation for three and a half years.[14]