[2][3] The agency is reputed to be one of the most brutal secret police forces in the world, and it has been involved in numerous human rights abuses.

[3] It is one of two agencies that provide security or protection to North Korean officials and VIPs, alongside the Supreme Guard Command.

The MSS was known by its nickname as Saeng-Gaggyeongchal (Korean: 생각경찰) meaning North Korea's Thought Police under Kim Jong-un's reign as leader since taking power in December 2011.

have suggested that unlike its Eastern Bloc counterparts, State Security functions are actually conducted by several larger and different security bodies that operate under the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) or the Korean People's Army (KPA, the North Korean armed forces), each with its own unique responsibilities and classified names that are referred to by code (e.g. Room 39), and that the agency is little more than a hollow shell used by the elite to coordinate their activities and provide cover for them.

[8] In November 2011, it was reported that General U Tong-chuk had been appointed permanent minister of State Security,[9] the first of this kind since 1987, filling a post left unoccupied for 24 years.

[7] In addition to its internal security duties, it is involved in the operation of North Korea's concentration camps, prisons and various other hidden activities.