Japan is moving ahead with plans to establish its first centralized intelligence agency since World War II amid growing security threats from China, Russia and North Korea, according to a report by The New York Times.

Legislation creating the new intelligence structure passed Japan’s National Diet earlier this year, with the government expecting the agency to become operational by December. The initiative is backed by a budget of about $407 million and is being developed with guidance from Western allies, including the U.S., Germany and Australia, according to the report.

The new agency would mark a major shift in Japan’s security strategy. Since World War II, Japan has relied on separate intelligence functions spread across the police, foreign ministry and defense ministry rather than maintaining a dedicated national intelligence agency.

Security experts say the fragmented system has hampered coordination and left Japan more vulnerable to espionage, cyberattacks and foreign interference by hostile actors.

According to The New York Times, a clandestine unit of Russia’s military intelligence has been operating a network of front companies in Tokyo to procure sanctioned technology for Russian missiles and drones. The report also said China has operated websites posing as Japanese-language news outlets to spread pro-Beijing disinformation.

The reform will reportedly replace the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office with two new bodies: a National Intelligence Council that will coordinate intelligence collection and analysis across the government, and a National Intelligence Bureau responsible for intelligence operations. 

The council will serve as the government’s intelligence command center under the prime minister’s leadership.

The new agency is expected to employ hundreds of software engineers, cybersecurity specialists and overseas liaison officers in its initial phase while coordinating intelligence work already conducted by roughly 33,000 personnel across Japan’s police, defense and foreign ministries.

Ken Kotani, a professor at Nihon University, told Al Jazeera that Japan’s new intelligence structure will be uniquely tailored to the country’s needs rather than modeled after an existing foreign agency.

Kotani said Japan, which previously aligned its foreign and national security policies closely with the U.S., has since pursued a more independent course, particularly during the Trump administration, as Washington urged allies to take greater responsibility for their own defense.

The Japanese government declined to comment on claims that it sought assistance from Western allies, saying only that it “maintains close cooperation with counterparts in relevant countries regularly.” The U.S. government has not yet commented on the report.