The U.S. Department of Defense is known to be expanding the military's spy operations to gather intelligence beyond war zones.

The Pentagon said Monday that it's reorganizing the “Defense Intelligence Agency” into a new organization called the “Defense Clandestine Service.” Defense Secretary Leon Panetta signed off on the plan last week.

Under the new service promoted both by the Department of Defense and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), hundreds of case officers will work with their CIA counterparts to collect intelligence mainly in Asia and Africa.

In particular, the Defense Department plans to strengthen its intelligence activities in Asia due to North Korea’s long-range missile threat and China’s growing military clout.