Overview
- State media said Kim paid congratulatory visits on Nov. 18 to the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of State Security, the Supreme Court and the Supreme Public Prosecutors Office for their 80th anniversaries.
- It was his first trip to the Ministry of State Security since 2012, and he was accompanied by senior officials Jo Yong-won, Kim Hyong-sik and Kang Yun-sok.
- Kim praised security officers as defenders of the ruling party and credited their work with enabling victories over what he called hostile forces.
- Analysts and reporting interpret the back-to-back stops at security and judicial organs as a signal of tightened social control.
- The U.S. State Department’s 2024 human rights report details torture and political prison camps associated with the security agency, estimating 80,000 to 120,000 detainees.