Korea, US Join Forces to Fight Cyber Terrorism
By Do Je-hae
Staff Reporter
South Korea and the United States will work more closely to secure security information and protect their intelligence networks from cyber attacks, according to the Ministry of National Defense on Monday.
It said that it recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the U.S. Department of Defense to boost cooperation on information and network security, in light of the heightened cyber dangers via hacking or virus attacks.
The MOU is also reflective of the concerns of both countries regarding North Korea and China, which are accelerating moves to organize cyber military units.
In addition, the two countries have been looking to expand support for joint missions of their militaries ahead of the 2014 transfer of South Korean wartime operational control from the United States, a ministry official said.
The MOU is seen as a way of clearing a path to establish a system of information exchange in order to foresee and prevent cyber military attacks.
Seoul and Washington will form a working-level organization in July to put the MOU into action and will meet once a year to discuss further developments.
Talks began in 2004 and it will remain effective for 15 years, subject to revisions based on mutual agreement.