Ministry of Science and ICT Holds Meeting with CISOs... "Granting IT Asset Control to CISOs"

Gathering Industry Feedback Following the Announcement of the "Comprehensive Government-wide Information Security Plan"

On October 30, the Ministry of Science and ICT held a meeting with Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) from major domestic companies in the main conference room of the Science and Technology Advisory Council. During the meeting, the ministry shared key details of the recently announced "Comprehensive Government-wide Information Security Plan." The event was organized to enhance security capabilities in both the private and public sectors. The meeting was presided over by Choi Woo-hyuk, Director General of Network Policy, and attended by more than ten CISOs, including those from Lotte Card, Viva Republica, and LG Uplus.

The government recognizes the growing number of cyberattacks across telecommunications, finance, and the public sector as a situation equivalent to a national emergency. In response, it announced the "Comprehensive Government-wide Information Security Plan" in early October and organized this meeting to gather feedback from frontline security officers.

The meeting emphasized various institutional measures to encourage voluntary security investment by companies. Key proposals included: ▲ expanding the mandatory information security disclosure requirement to all listed companies (from the current 666 companies to approximately 2,700), ▲ introducing a public security capability rating system for companies, and ▲ strengthening the authority of CISOs. In particular, the government is pushing for institutional reforms to grant CISOs control over all IT assets, require regular board reports, and enhance their authority over the allocation and execution of information security personnel and budgets.

Choi Woo-hyuk stated, "Security is no longer just a cost, but an essential investment that can determine a company's success or failure." He urged, "CISOs working on the front lines of information security should proactively and autonomously strengthen their security capabilities." He added, "The government will also make every effort to establish a robust information security system to support Korea's leap toward becoming an AI powerhouse, maintaining ongoing communication with the field and continuously improving our efforts."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.