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Japanese intelligence history discussed in new books

July 21, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
In comparison to their Asian counterparts, Western intelligence organizations are oases of transparency and openness. In such Asian countries as Japan, governments have yet to recognize the existence –let alone operations– of their espionage agencies. This attitude is slowly changing in Japan, however, through a new trend of published books authored by former intelligence operatives. An article in Japan’s second-largest newspaper, Asahi Shimbun, available here in English, discusses this new trend, as well as some of the new information provided in several new memoirs by Japanese ex-intelligence professionals. One interesting aspect of postwar Japanese intelligence, revealed in such books, is its overwhelming concentration on Japan’s communist neighbors. Another is the substantial degree to which US intelligence agencies were involved in the day-to-day running of Japanese intelligence operations. Read more of this post

Filed under A specialized intelligence blog written by experts Tagged with book news and reviews, Cold War, Hiromasa Ao, history, Japan, Musashi intelligence unit (Japan), News, Southeast Asia

Ex-director of Japanese domestic intelligence convicted of fraud

July 18, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Ogata

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
The former head of Japan’s Public Security Intelligence Agency (PSIA) has been handed a suspended prison sentence for defrauding North Korea’s de facto embassy in Tokyo. After a trial that lasted more than a year, Shigetake Ogata, who headed Japan’s primary domestic intelligence agency from 1993 to 1995, was found to have conspired to defraud Chongryon of about ¥484 million yen (US$ 5.1 million). Chongryon, which is known as General Association of North Korean Residents in Japan, represents the interests of over 200,000 long-term Korean residents in Japan who are ideologically aligned to North Korea. The group is generally considered to represent the Pyongyang government in Japan, in the absence of official diplomatic relations between the two nations. Read more of this post

Filed under A specialized intelligence blog written by experts Tagged with Chongryon, corruption, General Association of North Korean Residents in Japan, Japan, News, North Korea, PSIA (Japan), Public Security Intelligence Agency (Japan), real estate, Shigetake Ogata, Tadao Mitsui

North Korean ex-spy meets Japanese abductee’s family

March 12, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Kim Hyun-Hee

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
Relatives of a Japanese citizen abducted thirty years ago by North Korean agents have held a meeting with a North Korean former spy, who told them their relative is still alive. Yaeko Taguchi was among 17 Japanese citizens kidnapped by North Korean intelligence operatives in the 1970s and 1980s, and forced to familiarize North Koran spies with Japanese language and culture. The North Korean government, which has admitted conducting 13 of the 17 kidnappings, claims that Taguchi was killed in a car accident in 1986. But on Wednesday, Kim Hyun-Hee, a North Korean former spy who now lives in South Korea, told Taguchi’s son and brother that Taguchi was “her language tutor at a spy school in the North” and that she believes the Japanese woman is still alive. Read more of this post