The Ministry of National Defense on Monday officially launched the Defense Counterintelligence Headquarters, establishing a new military organization responsible for counterintelligence as part of a broader restructuring of the former Defense Counterintelligence Command. Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back presided over the inauguration ceremony at the headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, attended by senior military officers, defense officials and personnel assigned to the new organization. “We must uproot the bad practices of the past and rebuild this organization as a professional agency focused solely on its proper mission,” Ahn said during the inauguration ceremony. “Transparency and professionalism must ultimately lead to one thing — public trust.” According to the ministry, the headquarters was formally established on Friday under a presidential decree issued last month. The move follows the dismantling and reorganization of the former Defense Counterintelligence Command, which became embroiled in former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s Dec. 3 martial law declaration. The min