Korea to join US-led multinational cyber exercise

Choi Byong-ok, left, the director general of the defense ministry's defense policy bureau, shakes hands with Mieke Eoyang, the U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for cyber policy at the ministry in Seoul, in this May 9 photo released by the ministry. Yonhap

Korea's Cyber Operations Command will participate in a U.S.-led multinational cyber exercise this month to strengthen its capabilities to counter threats in the increasingly crucial security domain, Seoul's defense ministry said Monday.

Hosted by the U.S. Cyber Command, the annual Cyber Flag exercise is set to take place from Monday through July 28. It involves the "Five Eyes" intelligence alliance, which consists of the U.S., Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, and other partner countries.

The online exercise is designed to hone skills for multinational cooperation in countering cyberthreats and related information integration and analysis, as well as overall operational capabilities, according to the ministry.

"Going forward, the Cyber Operations Command will develop a Korea-U.S. cyber operations cooperation mechanism through bilateral training and exchanges of cyber professionals and technologies," the ministry said in a press release.

It would mark Korea's second participation in the exercise following the first last year.

During a session of the Korea-U.S. Cyber Cooperation Working Group in May, Seoul proposed regularly joining the cyber exercise. (Yonhap)