Allies say 1953 mutual defense treaty extends to cyber, space threats

South Korea and the United States have, for the first time, explicitly confirmed that cyber and space threats to either country could trigger mutual defense actions under their bilateral treaty signed in 1953, which forms the basis of their military alliance.

The commitment was outlined in a joint statement following the South Korea-US '2+2' foreign and defense ministerial meeting held Thursday in Washington, notably amid rising concerns over deepening security cooperation between Russia and North Korea, particularly in areas like cyber and outer space, including satellite technology transfers

"We also affirmed that attacks in space or cyberspace that clearly challenge the security of the alliance could lead us to invoke Article III of the Mutual Defense Treaty," US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said during a joint news conference following the 2+ meeting -- the first of its kind since March 2021. "So to improve our awareness of threats in the space and cyber domains, we’re enhancing our interoperability and information sharing."

Article III stipulates a mutual defense commitment if either party within its jurisdiction is attacked, provided the other party deems the attack a threat to its own peace and safety and declares its intention to address the shared danger in accordance with its constitutional processes.

The joint statement clarified that international law applies to cyberspace and that, under certain circumstances, a cyberattack could be considered an armed attack under Article III. It also emphasized that attacks originating from, targeting, or occurring within space pose a significant threat to the security of the alliance and could trigger the invocation of Article III.

"Both sides affirmed that a decision as to when attacks in either domain would lead to an invocation of Article III would be made on a case-by-case basis, and through close consultations between the United States and the ROK, as would be the case for any other threat," the statement read, referring to South Korea by the acronym of its official name.

What does it mean?

Yang Uk, a research fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul, noted that the allies' declarations are driven by the urgency of emerging security challenges, particularly in the cyber and outer space domains from North Korea and other authoritarian countries.

Yang explained that an attack targeting space could involve North Korea launching a missile to disable reconnaissance satellites belonging to South Korea or the US He also provided examples of potential threats within space itself, such as North Korea developing technologies in the future to hijack South Korean or US satellites or attempting to extract information by approaching them, even though they currently lack such capabilities.

"North Korea's threat in outer space continues to grow, and space has become increasingly significant for (the allies) to monitor North Korea's space activities and missile launches. Additionally, there has been a rise in cyber influence operations by authoritarian states," Yang told The Korea Herald.

"In this context, (the declaration) signifies that concrete and tangible actions are now clearly within their reach, indicating that South Korea and the US are ready to address these challenges in a specific and actionable manner," Yang said, adding that the allies have long recognized the need to strengthen cooperation in addressing emerging security threats.

Joung Kyeong-woon, a senior research fellow at the Seoul Defense Forum, pointed out that South Korea's establishment of the Strategic Command, responsible for space and cyber domains, on Oct. 1 has paved the way for a coordinated response to space and cyber threats.

"The Strategic Command will work in collaboration with the US Strategic Command and Indo-Pacific Command to advance joint operations in space and cyber warfare," Joung told The Korea Herald.

The allies' commitment could be linked to the potential of South Korea joining AUKUS Pillar 2.

"As part of the US diplomatic and alliance strategy, key areas of AUKUS Pillar 2 include military science and technology, covering space and cyber domains. The US has encouraged South Korea to join Pillar 2, and we are currently considering joining," Joung said. "Space and cyber domains are expected to play an increasingly critical role in future threats and warfare. The threats include China, Russia, and North Korea, whose military advancements are focusing on space and cyber capabilities."

Russia-NK security ties

The expanded scope of the mutual defense treaty between South Korea and the US comes amid growing concerns over what Russia may be offering in return for North Korea's troop deployment, in addition to North Korea's weapons supplies to Russia.

When asked about what North Korea could receive in return for its troop deployment during the news conference, Austin also said, "That’s unknown at this point, but as you look at things, you would guess that technology would be at the top of the list, and that’s, again, one of those things that could be and will be destabilizing depending on what kind of technology we’re talking about."

“And certainly, DPRK stands a chance of gaining in this -- in this exchange here. This is something that we’re going to have to continue to watch very, very closely,” Austin said, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The 2+2 joint statement also noted, "Both sides further identified measures to address the challenges posed by increased DPRK-Russia security cooperation, resolved to closely monitor and further expose Russian support to the DPRK, and urged Russia and the DPRK to abide by international law, including the relevant UNSC resolutions."

Austin also stated that the potential assistance or benefits that North Korea might receive from Russia would “potentially embolden” North Korea to do “more of the kinds of things that we’ve seen them do here recently, especially the kinds of things that we saw yesterday with the launch of an ICBM.”

North Korean state media on Friday reported that it had successfully test-fired the Hwasong-19 intercontinental ballistic missile the previous day, which was described as the “latest ICBM” to be used by the strategic forces of North Korea alongside the solid-fuel Hwasong-18 ICBM.