In 1945, the DPRK Security was established, being attached to the "Police Department". In 1948, it became Ministry of Internal Affairs () with the Bureau of Political Protection attached. Some defectors and sources have suggested that unlike its
Eastern Bloc counterparts, State Security functions are actually conducted by several larger and different security bodies that operate under the
Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) or the
Korean People's Army (KPA, the North Korean armed forces), each with its own unique responsibilities and classified names that are referred to by code (e.g.
Room 39), and that the agency is little more than a hollow shell used by the elite to coordinate their activities and provide cover for them. The post of Security Department head was left vacant after Minister
Ri Chun-su's death in 1987, although it was
de facto if not
de jure controlled by
Kim Jong Il and the WPK
Organization and Guidance Department he headed. In 1998, the MSS migrated under the
National Defence Commission, also chaired by Kim Jong Il. the first of this kind since 1987, filling a post left unoccupied for 24 years. This was almost concurrent with General
Ri Myong-su's appointment as minister of
People's Security. Other sources also claimed that Kim Jong Un worked at the State Security Department before and/or after his anointment as
heir apparent in September 2010.
Kim Won-hong was appointed minister in April 2012 as the position was restored following
Kim Jong Il's death. He served as Kim Jong Un's aide until February 2017 when he was allegedly dismissed for filing false reports to Kim Jong Un and mishandling an aide of Kim Jong Un. He was formally replaced in October 2017 at a
WPK central committee plenum by
Jong Kyong-thaek.
So Tae-ha is the vice minister, while
Kim Chang-sop serves as the head of the political department of the ministry. On October 21, 2021, the MSS was instructed not to excessively surveil North Koreans living near the Chinese-North Korean border who are known to be free from any ideological suspicions. On November 18, 2025, Kim Jong Un visited MSS HQ with Minister of State Security
Pang Tu-sop as part of celebrating 80 years of North Korean security apparatus. ==Duties==