Daily NK says North Korea is tightening standards for officials of its Ministry of State Security who are sent abroad, after recalling an agent it suspected of engaging in corruption while overseas. 

The Seoul-based online daily quoted a senior source within the North as saying on Thursday that the ministry’s politburo issued a policy statement late last month that makes weekly ideological and business reviews obligatory and requires security officers to submit written reports.

According to the source, the statement signals that ministry officials must avoid corruption, including taking bribes, and monitor each other closely.

The source said the internal message is that the North must not give South Korea any opportunity to damage its international reputation.

The report said the North has also tightened the selection criteria for officials to be dispatched overseas, with candidates from North Hamgyong Province and other areas along the China-North Korea border excluded due to concerns they may have already been “exposed to the enemy.”