South Korea and the U.S. Strengthen Cooperation to Block North Korean Cyber Threats

Strengthening Cooperation to Respond to North Korean Cyber Threats

Lee Jun-il, Director of the North Korea Nuclear Planning and Diplomacy Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (left), is taking a commemorative photo with Jeongbak, the U.S. Department of State's Special Representative for North Korea, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jongno-gu, Seoul, last July. 26, 2023. Photo by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Lee Jun-il, Director of the North Korea Nuclear Diplomacy Planning Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Chung Park, U.S. Department of State Deputy Special Representative for North Korea, held the "5th South Korea-U.S. Working Group Meeting on North Korean Cyber Threat Response" as chief representatives in Washington D.C., USA, on the 6th and 7th, agreeing to strengthen cooperation between South Korea and the U.S. in responding to North Korean cyber threats.

Both sides reached a consensus that since North Korea continues to develop new hacking technologies and methods to evade the international community's blocking efforts, the international community must respond promptly. As North Korea's virtual asset money laundering methods are becoming increasingly complex and sophisticated, they agreed to actively explore ways to expand cooperation with virtual asset service providers.

They also paid attention to the possibility that North Korea may attempt to dispatch workers overseas, including IT personnel, alongside border openings. They agreed to closely consult on responding to recent North Korean malicious cyber activities, such as cyber attacks using hacking emails and malware, and attempts to steal information in the defense industry sector.

Since its launch in August last year, the South Korea-U.S. Working Group on North Korean Cyber Threat Response has expanded the scope and depth of discussions through five intergovernmental meetings. Since last year, South Korea and the U.S. have actively prevented the freezing and seizure of virtual assets stolen by North Korea and the flow of illegal profits from stolen assets into the North Korean regime, which are used for nuclear and missile development.

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