Presided Over by Oh Hyunju, Third Deputy Director of the National Security Office
Participation from Ten Government Ministries
On September 1, the National Security Office announced that it had held a "Cybersecurity Issue Review Meeting" to assess the current response to recent major cyber incidents and to establish cross-ministerial measures to strengthen the nation's information security capabilities.
The Cybersecurity Issue Review Meeting was presided over by Oh Hyunju, the third deputy director of the National Security Office, and was attended by ten government agencies: the National Intelligence Service, the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Financial Services Commission, the Personal Information Protection Commission, and the National Police Agency.
Since the launch of the new administration, the National Security Office has worked with relevant ministries to develop measures to prevent a recurrence of the SKT hacking incident, while also focusing on responding to other recent major cyberattacks, including ransomware infections at Seoul Guarantee Insurance and Yes24, as well as cyberattacks targeting government systems.
In addition, efforts have been made to protect the public from malicious smishing attacks related to the distribution of consumer coupons for livelihood recovery, and security has been strengthened for institutions and systems connected to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
During the Ulchi Exercise period, the National Security Office led a joint cyber crisis response drill involving the public, private, and military sectors (August 18-19) to enhance the nation's integrated cyberattack response capabilities.
At the meeting, participants discussed strategies to strengthen information protection and cybersecurity in response to increasingly intelligent and sophisticated cyber threats powered by artificial intelligence (AI). They deliberated on ways to enhance security across all sectors of society, including critical infrastructure in both the private and public sectors and small and medium-sized enterprises; institutional improvements to address new cyber threats such as AI-driven attacks and software supply chain vulnerabilities; and measures to strengthen the accountability of Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) and Chief Privacy Officers (CPOs) in companies and organizations.
Furthermore, there was consensus on the need to continuously strengthen cybersecurity capabilities by establishing proactive defense mechanisms against state-sponsored hacking groups, reinforcing international cooperation with major countries, fostering the information security industry, and enhancing workforce development and technological innovation. The participants agreed to formulate specific policy tasks to achieve these goals.
Oh Hyunju, the third deputy director of the National Security Office, stated, "As AI advances, cyber threats are also becoming more intelligent and sophisticated. Cybersecurity is essential to ensure the stability of people's lives, the survival of businesses, and the security of the nation." She added, "It is important to secure robust cyber resilience so that society can continue to function without disruption even in the face of cyberattacks. The National Security Office will continue to work with relevant ministries to develop and implement necessary policies to strengthen cyber resilience."
The National Security Office plans to continue holding review meetings to facilitate ongoing discussions with cybersecurity-related ministries on responses to cyber threats and major policy issues.
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