--- title: North Korea: CIA Sets Up Mission Center to Address Threat description: The CIA has established a mission centre geared towards checking advancements in North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. canonical: https://time.com/4775307/cia-mission-centre-north-korea/ author: Joseph Hincks article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-05-11T06:04:29.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T04:51:58.540Z article:section: Politics og:title: CIA Sets Up Mission Center to Address North Korean Threat og:description: The center will focus on North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. og:url: https://time.com/4775307/cia-mission-centre-north-korea/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf02fb1844dba0b94/6988ccdf8fd2eea9f635700a/gettyimages-669024692.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: NKOREA-POLITICS og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: CIA Sets Up Mission Center to Address North Korean Threat twitter:description: The center will focus on North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf02fb1844dba0b94/6988ccdf8fd2eea9f635700a/gettyimages-669024692.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # CIA Sets Up a Mission Center to Address North Korea Threat by [Joseph Hincks](https://time.com/author/joseph-hincks/) ## Joseph Hincks May 11, 2017 6:04 AM UTC  This April 15, 2017 picture released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency shows Korean People's ballistic missiles during a military parade in Pyongyang. This April 15, 2017 picture released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency shows Korean People's ballistic missiles during a military parade in Pyongyang.STR/AFP/Getty Images by [Joseph Hincks](https://time.com/author/joseph-hincks/) ## Joseph Hincks May 11, 2017 6:04 AM UTC The CIA has established a mission center geared towards dealing with advancements in North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs. “Creating the Korea Mission Center allows us to more purposefully integrate and direct CIA efforts against the serious threats to the United States and its allies emanating from North Korea,” said CIA Director Mike Pompeo in a [statement](https://www.cia.gov/news-information/press-releases-statements/2017-press-releases-statements/cia-establishes-korea-mission-center.html) Wednesday. Tensions remain high on the Korean Peninsula after belligerent exchanges between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump, who deployed a naval strike group to the West Pacific last month and advanced the installation of the [THAAD missile defense system ](http://time.com/4762751/thaad-south-korea-north-korea-missile/)in South Korea. In the preceding weeks, Pyongyang had conducted a series of missile tests and then held [live fire drills](http://time.com/4753820/north-korea-holds-live-fire-drills-as-trump-calls-for-tougher-sanctions/) as it marked the anniversary of the founding of its military. North Korea has threatened to strike if provoked by the U.S. North Korean state news agency KCNA said last week — without providing evidence — that Pyongyang had “uncovered and smashed” [plots](http://time.com/4768585/north-korea-us-plot-kill-kim-jong-un/) hatched by the CIA and the South Korean National Intelligence Service. One of those plots was allegedly an assassination attempt on Kim using a “bio-chemical substance.” **Read:** [_TIME’s cover story on Moon Jae-in: The Negotiator_](http://time.com/4766618/moon-jae-in-the-negotiator/) Meanwhile, South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in swept to a [landslide victory](http://time.com/4771881/moon-jae-in-president-election-south-korea/) in his country’s presidential elections Tuesday. Moon has [expressed a softer approach](http://time.com/4745910/south-korea-elections-moon-jae-in/) in dealing with North Korea and has said he is [open to visiting the country](http://time.com/4773542/south-korea-moon-jae-in-pyongyang/) under the right conditions. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4775307/cia-mission-centre-north-korea/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4775307/cia-mission-centre-north-korea/"},"headline":"CIA Sets Up a Mission Center to Address North Korea Threat","datePublished":"2017-05-11T06:04:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:51:58.540Z","description":"The center will focus on stopping North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs","url":"https://time.com/4775307/cia-mission-centre-north-korea/","keywords":["National Security","Korean Peninsula","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf02fb1844dba0b94/6988ccdf8fd2eea9f635700a/gettyimages-669024692.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Joseph Hincks","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/joseph-hincks/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf02fb1844dba0b94/6988ccdf8fd2eea9f635700a/gettyimages-669024692.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"NKOREA-POLITICS","caption":"NKOREA-POLITICS","creditText":"STR/AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/national-security/","name":"National Security"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4775307/cia-mission-centre-north-korea/","name":"CIA Sets Up a Mission Center to Address North Korea Threat"}}]}] ```