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2022 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

South Korea’s Cyber Defence and Digital Cooperation with the EU

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Abstract

This chapter examines the evolving and imminent North Korean cyber threat and primarily highlights the role of the Reconnaissance General Bureau (and its cyber footprints as the core institutional system of North Korea’s cyber operations). The chapter also examines the possibility of an EU-South Korea cyber-strategic partnership based on the respective cybersecurity strategies against North Korea’s threats and other cybersecurity concerns and, to this end, formulates four policy recommendations to improve South Korea’s cybersecurity defence posture which are relevant for further South Korea-EU cyber cooperation: the establishment of a whole-of-the-government consensus on the necessity of countermeasures against cybersecurity threats, the construction of central authority in charge of overall cybersecurity policies, and the institutionalization of international cooperation in cybersecurity through various channels.

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Footnotes
1
David E. Sanger et al., “The World Once Laughed at North Korean Cyberpower. No More,” New York Times, October 15, 2017, https://​www.​nytimes.​com/​2017/​10/​15/​world/​asia/​north-korea-hacking-cyber-sony.​html.
 
2
 
3
Maggie Miller, “Microsoft Reports Spike in Foreign Targeting of COVID-19 Researchers, Think Tanks,” Hill, September 29, 2020.
 
4
U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), “Information Technology: Federal Agencies Need to Take Urgent Action to Manage Supply Chain Risks,” GAO-21-171, December 2020, https://​www.​gao.​gov/​assets/​720/​711266.​pdf.
 
5
David E.​ Sanger et al., “Billions Spent on U.S. Defenses Failed to Detect Giant Russian Hack,” New York Times, December 16, 2020. https://​www.​nytimes.​com/​2020/​12/​16/​us/​politics/​russia-hack-putin-trump-biden.​html.
 
6
Bertrand Venard, “The Cold War 2.0 between China and the US Is Already a Virtual Reality,” Conversation, October 17, 2019.
 
7
Biden, Joe, “The Power of America’s Example: The Biden Plan for Leading the Democratic World to Meet the Challenges of The 21St Century,” 2020, https://​joebiden.​com/​americanleadersh​ip/​.
 
8
For the cyber threat overview in 2021, see Mason Richey in this volume.
 
9
Ishaan Tharoor, “An Emerging New Alliance of Democracies,” Washington Post, December 18, 2020.
 
10
Annie Palmer, “Coupang, a SoftBank-backed start-up, is crushing Amazon to become South Korea’s biggest online retailer,” CNBC, June 16, 2020.
 
11
See Anna-Maria Osula in this volume.
 
12
On the EU strategy, see Michael Reiterer in this volume.
 
13
Chong-woo Kim and Carolina Polito, “The Evolution of North Korean Cyber Threats,” Asan Institute for Policy Studies, 20 February 2019, p. 1. http://​en.​asaninst.​org/​contents/​the-evolution-of-north-korean-cyber-threats/​.
 
14
CISA (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency), “Alert (AA20-106A): Guidance on the North Korean Cyber Threat,” April 15, 2020, https://​us-cert.​cisa.​gov/​ncas/​alerts/​aa20-106a.
 
15
Ibid.
 
16
David E. Sanger and Nicole Perlroth, “U.S. Accuses North Korea of Cyberattacks, a Sign That Deterrence Is Failing,” New York Times, April 15, 2020.
 
17
Ellen Ioanes, “Kim Jong Un has quietly built a 7,000-man cyber army that gives North Korea an edge nuclear weapons don’t,” Business Insider, July 17, 2020.
 
18
Kyungmin Ko and others, “The Internet dilemma and control policy: political and economic implications of the Internet in North Korea,” Korean Journal of Defense Analysis, Vol. 21, No. 3 (September 2009):279–280.
 
19
Martyn Williams, “How the Internet Works in North Korea,” Slate, November 28, 2016. https://​slate.​com/​technology/​2016/​11/​how-the-internet-works-in-north-korea.​html.
 
20
Reporters Without Borders, “Internet Enemies 2011 – North Korea,” March 11, 2011, https://​www.​refworld.​org/​docid/​4d82268ec.​html.
 
21
Kong, Ji-young et al., “The All-Purpose Sword: North Korea’s Cyber Operations and Strategies,” 11th International Conference on Cyber Conflict (CyCon), Tallinn, Estonia, 2019, https://​ccdcoe.​org/​uploads/​2019/​06/​Art_​08_​The-All-Purpose-Sword.​pdf.
 
22
Sanger at al, “World.”
 
24
Jun et al, “The Organization of Cyber Operations in North Korea,” CSIS (Korea Chair Platform), December 18, 2014, https://​csis-website-prod.​s3.​amazonaws.​com/​s3fs-public/​legacy_​files/​files/​publication/​141218_​Cyber_​Operations_​North_​Korea.​pdf.
 
26
Recorded Future, “North Korea Cyber Activity,” Recorded Future Insikt Group Report, June 14, 2020, pp. 6–7. https://​go.​recordedfuture.​com/​hubfs/​reports/​north-korea-activity.​pdf.
 
27
Steve Miller, “Where Did DPRK’s Cyber Army Come From?” VOA News, November 20, 2018.
 
28
Jun et al., “North Korea’s”, p. 47.
 
29
Young-jong Lee, “Cyber warfare is a merciless treasure-sword of the Korean People’s Army,” Sisa Journal, December 30, 2014, http://​www.​sisajournal.​com/​news/​articleView.​html?​idxno=​140623.
 
30
Kong et al., “All-purpose,” p. 5.
 
31
Jun et al., “North Korea’s”, p. 42.
 
32
Ju-min Park and James Pearson, “Exclusive: North Korea’s Unit 180, the cyber warfare cell that worries the West,” Reuters, May 21, 2017.
 
33
Michael Raska, “North Korea’s evolving cyber warfare strategy,” East Asia Forum, September 24, 2020, https://​www.​eastasiaforum.​org/​2020/​09/​24/​north-koreas-evolving-cyber-warfare-strategy/​.
 
34
Jason Bartlett, “Exposing the Financial Footprints of North Korea’s Hackers,” Center for a New American Security, November 18, 2020, https://​www.​cnas.​org/​publications/​reports/​exposing-the-financial-footprints-of-north-koreas-hackers.
 
35
U.S. Department of the Treasury, “Treasury Sanctions North Korean State-Sponsored Malicious Cyber Groups,” Press Release, September 13, 2019, https://​home.​treasury.​gov/​news/​press-releases/​sm774.
 
36
Kate Kochetkova, “What is known about the Lazarus Group: Sony hack, military espionage, attacks on Korean banks and other crimes,” Kaspersky Daily, February 24, 2014, https://​www.​kaspersky.​com/​blog/​operation-blockbuster/​11407/​.
 
37
U.S. Department of Army, North Korean Tactics, APT7-100.2, July 2020, https://​fas.​org/​irp/​doddir/​army/​atp7-100-2.​pdf.
 
38
Barlett, “Exposing.”
 
39
38 FireEye, “APT37 (Reaper): The Overlooked North Korean Actor,” Threat Research, February 20, 2018, https://​www.​fireeye.​com/​blog/​threat-research/​2018/​02/​apt37-overlooked-north-korean-actor.​html.
 
40
FireEye, “APT38: Details on New North Korean Regime-Backed Threat Group,” Threat Research, October 3, 2018, https://​www.​fireeye.​com/​blog/​threat-research/​2018/​10/​apt38-details-on-new-north-korean-regime-backed-threat-group.​html.
 
41
Barlett, “Exposing.”; Raska, “North,” p. 7.
 
42
Blue House, National Security Strategy, December 2018, (henceforth NSS 2019), https://​www1.​president.​go.​kr/​dn/​5c1b2e9a52b8e.
 
43
Yeon-cheol Seong, “Blue House publishes national defense strategy of Moon administration,” HanKyoreh, December 21, 2018.
 
44
NSS, p. 26.
 
45
Ibid., p. 95.
 
47
UNIDIR, “Republic of Korea: Cybersecurity Policy,” Cyber Policy Portal, September 2020, https://​unidir.​org/​cpp/​en/​states/​republicofkorea.
 
48
Ministry of Defense (MND), Defense White Paper, 2018, (henceforth, DWP 2020), https://​www.​mnd.​go.​kr/​user/​mnd/​upload/​pblictn/​PBLICTNEBOOK_​2021020211530576​40.​pdf. (As of early February 2021, English version is not available yet.)
 
49
Hannes Ebert and Laura Groenendaal, “Digital Dialogue: Cyber Resilience and Diplomacy in the Republic of Korea: Prospects for EU Cooperation,” EU Cyber Direct, August 2020, https://​eucyberdirect.​eu/​wp-content/​uploads/​2020/​08/​digital-dialogue-rok.​pdf.
 
50
The White House, The National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace, February 2003; Information Security Policy Council of Japan, Cybersecurity Strategy, June 10, 2013.
 
51
Cybersecurity-related laws have been proposed several times since 2006, but they were often repealed after sluggish discussions. Since the Cyber Security Basic Act has been also pending for over a year, the entire governance of cyber security is still dependent on the presidential decree.
 
52
For EU-South Korea cooperation on other areas such as data protection and emerging technologies, see George Christou and Ji Soo Lee in this volume.
 
53
S. Boisseau du Rocher and B. Hellendorff, “EU in Asia: Between a Pivot and a Look East,” Diplomat, July 3, 2014.
 
54
Mason Richey, “EU-South Korea Security Relations: The Current State of Play,” Security Policy Brief, No. 87, May 2017, https://​www.​egmontinstitute.​be/​content/​uploads/​2017/​05/​SPB87.​pdf?​type=​pdf.
 
55
“Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Korea establishing a framework for the participation of the Republic of Korea in European Union crisis management operations.” Date of signature: 23 May 2014. Date of entry into force: December 1, 2016, https://​ec.​europa.​eu/​world/​agreements/​downloadFile.​do?​fullText=​yes&​treatyTransId=​16823.
 
56
European Commission, “Joint Press Release: Republic of Korea – EU Leaders’ Video Conference Meeting,” Press Release, June 30, 2020, https://​ec.​europa.​eu/​commission/​presscorner/​detail/​en/​IP_​20_​1226.
 
57
High Representative. “Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the EU on respect for the rules-based order in cyberspace”.
 
58
Ebert and Groenendaal, “Digital,” p. 30.
 
59
Bruce Schneier, “The US has suffered a massive cyberbreach. It’s hard to overstate how bad it is,” The Guardian, December 23, 2020.
 
60
Anthony H. Cordesman, Charles Ayers and Aaron Lin, “DPRK: Cyber, Electronic Warfare, and SIGINT Capabilities,” Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), 2016, https://​www.​jstor.​org/​stable/​pdf/​resrep23358.​7.​pdf?​refreqid=​excelsior%3Aa6f12d1060b61b​613571a97ce10fc5​04.
 
61
Kim Young-do and others, “Major Issues of the National Cyber Security System in South Korea, and its Future Direction,” Korean Journal of Defense Analysis, Vol. 25, No. 4 (December 2013): 435–455.
 
62
Rothrock, “As Cyberthreats.” Ray Rothrock, “As Cyberthreats Grow, Cybersecurity Should Be Centralized,” Governing, December 20, 2020, https://​www.​governing.​com/​news/​headlines/​As-Cyberthreats-Grow-Cybersecurity-Should-Be-Centralized.​html.
 
63
Maggie Miller, “Biden’s cyber priorities zero in on Russian hack,” Hill, 27 January 2021.
 
64
Maggie Miller, “US Cyber Command Leader Vows to ‘Defend Forward’ in Protecting Nation from Cyberattacks,” Hill, August 28, 2020.
 
65
Paul M. Nakasone and Michael Sulmeyer, “How to Compete in Cyberspace: Cyber Command’s New Approach,” Foreign Affairs, August 25, 2020, https://​www.​foreignaffairs.​com/​articles/​united-states/​2020-08-25/​cybersecurity.
 
66
In 2019, South Korea overhauled the country’s cyber command, renaming the unit the Cyber Operations Command and designating it as an entity under the direct control of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for the purpose of reinvigorating its military operational focus.
 
67
NCS 2019, p. 9.
 
68
Council of Europe, “Details of Treaty No.185: Convention on Cybercrime,” November 23, 2001, https://​www.​coe.​int/​en/​web/​conventions/​full-list/​-/​conventions/​treaty/​185.
 
Literature
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Metadata
Title
South Korea’s Cyber Defence and Digital Cooperation with the EU
Authors
Kyu-dok Hong
Seong-jong Song
Copyright Year
2022
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-08384-6_8