Korea, US, Japan to enhance cybersecurity jointly

Korea has agreed to strengthen cooperation in the digital field, including cybersecurity, network technology and digital capacity building, with the United States and Japan in a meeting with representatives of the three countries’ digital sectors, the ICT ministry said Thursday.

After pledging to strengthen cooperation in the digital field at the tripartite summit last August between Korea, the U.S. and Japan, Korea has continued bilateral cooperation discussions with the U.S. and Japan, respectively.

The ICT ministry said that the heads of the digital fields of the three countries met at the fourth ASEAN Digital Ministers’ Meeting, attended by 10 ASEAN countries in Singapore on Thursday, to enhance the trend of such cooperation and agreed to strengthen the alliance in the digital technology sector.

“Korea’s ICT Minister Lee Jongho, Watanabe Koichi, state minister for internal affairs and communications of Japan, and Nathaniel C. Fick, ambassador at large for the bureau of cyberspace and digital policy, participated in this meeting,” the ICT ministry said.

“They agreed to strengthen cooperation in the digital field, including cybersecurity, mobile communication networks such as Open RAN, technology education, startup competitions and other areas to enhance digital capabilities, and decided to continue with specific discussions through working-level meetings in the future.”

Cybersecurity is a field that is gaining significance as AI technology advances. Open RAN, which allows equipment from different wireless network manufacturers to work together, is a field where cooperation with the United States and Japan is essential for Korean companies to increase their presence in the global network equipment market. Also, enhancing the capabilities of startups is a crucial part of job creation and technology exchange.

The fourth ASEAN Digital Ministers’ Meeting was attended by Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar.

To enhance exchanges with member countries, Korea will hold the Korea-ASEAN Digital Ministers’ Meeting on Friday to discuss digital capacity-building projects and other matters with these countries, the ICT ministry added.

The ministry also said it will share the results of the digital bill of rights and the digital divide response survey to strengthen cooperation.