S. Korea to join US-led cyber drill

The flags of South Korea (right) and the United States. (123rf)

South Korea’s Cyber Operations Command will take part in an annual US-led virtual exercise throughout next week to boost readiness against threats in what is increasingly becoming a new battlefront for the military, the South Korean Defense Ministry said Monday.

The Cyber Flag drill, running from Monday to Friday next week, is meant to bolster not only cybersecurity by simulating defense and sharing information, but ties among the participants led by the Five Eyes network -- an intelligence alliance made up of the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

South Korea, which took part in the multinational exercise for the first time last year, agreed with the US on regularly participating in the event at their Cyber Cooperation Working Group meeting in May this year.

“Our command will seek to bolster joint cybersecurity capabilities through command to command exchanges with the US as well as personnel and technology sharing,” the Cyber Operations Command said in a statement.

On June 22, Seoul and Washington set up a working group on cybersecurity, a separate follow-up on what the two allies agreed at the April summit between President Yoon Suk Yeol and his US counterpart, Joe Biden.

There, an interagency team of Korean and American officials responsible for cybersecurity established what they called a “senior steering group” to start responding to cyberthreats, singling out cryptocurrency theft as one of their major concerns.

By Choi Si-young(siyoungchoi@heraldcorp.com)