Following South Korean President Park Guen-hye’s second visit to Washington, D.C. during the week of Oct. 12, the governments of the United States and South Korean agreed to increase cyber cooperation between the countries, according to a joint fact sheet released Oct. 16.
The fact sheet–The United States-Republic of Korea Alliance: Shared Values, New Frontiers–focused on new areas of cooperation between the countries. “As the U.S.-ROK relationship continues to evolve, we are advancing the U.S.-ROK Alliance in important new directions, taking advantage of new opportunities to demonstrate our nations are working together to make the world safer, healthier, and more prosperous,” the notice said.
In a section announcing increased cyber collaboration, the countries “remain committed to expanded cooperation on cyber issues with a view to ensuring the continued openness and enhanced security of cyberspace.”
The United States and South Korea pledged to increase cybersecurity cooperation by enhancing information sharing on cyber threats, particularly critical infrastructure; strengthening collaboration on investigating cyber incidents; deepening military-to-military cyber cooperation; and encouraging collaboration on cybersecurity research and development, education and workforce development, and cooperation on technology among cybersecurity industries.
The countries noted they will bolster existing bilateral cooperation including the U.S.-ROK Cyber Policy Consultations and the Cyber Cooperation Working Group between their respective militaries. Cooperation will be increased because the countries “decided to establish a White House–Blue House cyber coordination channel to further strengthen and complement the deep and broad bilateral cyber cooperation that already exists between our two countries.”
“Given the increasing cyber threats to both our nations, including from the DPRK [North Korea], we’re stepping up our efforts to strengthen our cyber defenses and coordinating at the highest levels–the White House and the Blue House–making sure that we’re in sync in dealing with that challenge,” President Obama said in a joint press conference with President Park on Oct. 16.
Park described the coordination channel as a hotline, “in order to enhance common response capabilities against cyber-attacks.”
The United States and South Korea also noted they share the view that like in other domains, in cyberspace states have a special responsibility to promote security, stability, and economic ties with other nations. To support this, they formally endorsed the 2015 report of the U.N. Group of Governmental Experts in the Field of Information and Telecommunications in the Context of International Security. The fact sheet stated their opinion that international law is applicable to state conduct in cyberspace and further voluntary norms of state behavior during peacetime could contribute to international stability.
To these ends the United States and South Korea affirmed a joint belief that “(1) no country should conduct or knowingly support online activity that intentionally damages critical infrastructure or impairs the use of it to provide services to the public; (2) no country should conduct or knowingly support cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property, trade secrets, or other confidential business information with the intent of providing competitive advantages to its companies or commercial sectors; and (3) every country should cooperate, consistent with its domestic law and international obligations, with requests for assistance from other states in investigating cybercrime or the use of information and communication technologies for terrorist purposes or to mitigate such activity emanating from its territory.”