The United States and South Korea held the fourth U.S.-South Korea Bilateral Cyber Consultations in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, reinforcing the cyber cooperation between the two countries.
The U.S. delegation was led by Christopher Painter, Coordinator for Cyber Issues at the Stater Department and also included representatives from the National Security Council staff, Department of State, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Defense. The Korean delegation was led by Ambassador Shin Maeng-ho of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and also included representatives from the Korea National Police Agency, Ministry of Justice, and Korea Internet and Security Agency.
The meeting “affirmed the benefits of a whole-of-government approach between the Republic of Korea and the United States on cyber policy and reinforced cooperation between the United States and the Republic of Korea on a wide range of cyber issues,” the State Department said in a statement.
The two countries are cooperating on several cybersecurity issues including critical infrastructure, capacity building, information sharing, research and development, military-to-military cyber cooperation, cybercrime, international security issues in cyberspace, and current trends in the international cyber environment.
The consultations seek increased cyber cooperation as stipulated in an October 2015 joint fact sheet following talks at a U.S.-RoK summit, the South Korea Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Following hacks of Sony Corp. [SNE] and Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power, the consultation was expected to “serve as an opportunity for the ROK and the U.S. to further step up their substantive cooperation in responding to cyber security threats,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The State Department highlighted “the Consultations also reaffirmed shared principles that support an open, interoperable, secure, and reliable cyberspace.”