N. Korea to expand intelligence agency's role against 'potential enemies'

North Korea has called for expanding the functions and missions of its intelligence agency against "potential enemies," state media said Friday, in a move seen as aimed at strengthening its intelligence gathering against South Korea.

The discussion took place at the first enlarged meeting of the ninth Central Military Commission, presided over by leader Kim Jong-un, the previous day, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

The meeting addressed ways to enhance the Korean People's Army's combat readiness and modernization.

"The meeting suggested tasks and ways for expanding in a many-sided way the functions and missions of the General Reconnaissance and Intelligence Bureau (GRIB)," the report said, describing the bureau as playing "a pivotal role in controlling the potential enemies' threats and gathering key information." It also called for enhancing its military reconnaissance and intelligence capabilities "in a radical way," according to the KCNA report.

The report did not specify in detail how the bureau's intelligence-gathering capabilities would be expanded.

North Korea is be ...