The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK), a Washington D.C.-based non-governmental organization tasked to research and report on North Korean human rights, will launch its publication entitled Reconnaissance General Bureau–The Kim Regime’s “Precious Treasured Sword” on Monday, February 23, 2026, virtually, via Zoom, from 16:00 to 17:30 U.S. Eastern Time. The report was authored by Robert Collins, author of eight previous HRNK reports over the past fourteen years. Collins is a 37-year veteran of the Department of Defense and an expert on North Korea and Northeast Asian security issues and human rights. The report will be posted on HRNK’s website at 12:01 am U.S. Eastern Time on Monday, February 23, the day of the rollout.
HRNK Board member and American Enterprise Institute (AEI) Henry Wendt Chair Dr. Nicholas Eberstadt notes: “Bob Collins’ research on the North Korean regime is absolutely indispensable for any serious student of the DPRK. Collins has an uncanny ability to use ‘open sources’ to discover crucial facts about North Korea’s political and military systems
that others—including Western intelligence services—somehow have missed. For me, everything he writes is a must read.”
Collins argues that “the RGB is not only a military reconnaissance unit, but also a combat unit, a cyber warfare group, an espionage bureau, a criminal enterprise, a terrorist organization, and a revolutionary entity all organized under a single control and command network that directly reports to North Korea’s Supreme Leader, Kim Jong-un.” According to Collins, the RGB is integral to the Kim family regime’s intent to “unify the Korean peninsula under its rule and subjugate South Korea and its citizens to the same crimes against humanity experienced by North Korean citizens.”
Survival remains the regime’s fundamental strategic objective. HRNK President and CEO Greg Scarlatoiu states: “The Kim family regime is not a political cartel. It is a political monopoly, facing no domestic opposition. The only competitor is ‘the other Korea,’ the free, democratic, modern, prosperous, economic and cultural powerhouse: South Korea. The North Korean regime understands that its long-term survival can’t be guaranteed if South Korea continues to exist and thrive. From its viewpoint, unification under its control is the only way to guarantee its long-term survival.”
To achieve that goal, the RGB has been the ultimate instrument of infiltration, subversion, and disruption of South Korea. Collins scrutinizes the RGB’s genesis, history, mission, tactics, and chain of control and command. He highlights how RGB operations have violated international human rights law as well as the fundamental human rights of South Koreans and citizens of other countries.
Collins thoroughly documents the RGB’s critical role in the surge in cyber theft pursuant to regime orders. Once operational in three warfighting domains, land, sea and air, the RGB has adapted to the 21st century, aggressively disrupting and exploiting the cyber domain and even exploring involvement in geospatial intelligence and analysis. While subjugation of the entire Korean Peninsula continues to be its fundamental strategic objective, the RGB has become a global threat. Moving forward, Collins’ report will serve as an essential, foundational source of information for those investigating the RGB’s clandestine operations and their criminal impact on the human rights of South Koreans and others.
The report, featuring the author and discussants Dr. Nicholas Eberstadt, LTG In Bum Chun and Dr. George Hutchinson will be presented via Zoom. HRNK President and CEO Greg Scarlatoiu will moderate. To RSVP, please access the link below. HRNK will share the program Zoom link with confirmed participants.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfiMlaFzubGxzOUyqFsauqTYmZgez-0w76K7BAbLbkkr_nX2Q/viewform
The event is open to the press and on-the-record.
