S. Korea, US launch joint body on cybersecurity

South Korea and the United States set up a working group on cybersecurity, a follow-up on what the two allies agreed at the April summit between President Yoon Suk Yeol and his US counterpart Joe Biden, Yoon’s office said in a statement Friday.

At a three-day in-person meeting in Washington that ended Thursday, senior Korean and American officials responsible for cybersecurity established a senior steering group to start responding to threats in cyberspace, according to the statement.

The group, as part of efforts by the two allies to deepen their ties, will be at the center of an “information alliance,” as Seoul and Washington hold regular exchanges, including global exercises to test readiness for “proactively dealing with cyberthreats,” the statement noted.

The statement added that the two allies also discussed ways to prevent cryptocurrency theft. They suspect that North Korea is stealing cryptocurrencies to not only launder illicit funds but bankroll its nuclear and weapons programs. Seoul and Washington are rolling out sanctions on North Korean individuals as well as groups tied to such programs.

An inter-agency team of Korean officials from the National Security Council, spy agency, Foreign, Defense and Science ministries attended the Washington meeting. Police and military officials also took part in it, with their US counterparts having been in attendance.