The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) closed its mission center dedicated
to gathering intelligence about North Korea, according to a report, reported by
Yonhap on Thursday (7/10).
The US spy agency on the other hand is now creating a new mission center in
China, according to a report by the Washington Post.
The CIA created the North Korea Mission Center in 2017 amid rising tensions
between the US and North Korea which carried out its sixth and most recent
nuclear test that year, along with several intercontinental ballistic missile
tests. The US administration has repeatedly stressed its focus on seeking an
approach towards North Korea with its allies, including South Korea.
While closing its mission centers in North Korea (including in Iran), the
CIA is now creating a new center in China. The move comes amid growing American
competition with Beijing, which is believed to be involved in various illicit
cyber activities targeting the US government, as well as American companies.
The China Mission Center is part of an effort to "further strengthen
our collective work on the most important geopolitical threat we face in the
21st century, the increasingly hostile Chinese government," CIA Director
William Burns said, according to a Washington Post report.
