Initial Disclosure Date: Jun 26, 2012

Abstract:

Washington and Seoul decided to “launch a whole-of-government consultative body” in order to deal with increasing cyber threats.

Discription：

On June 14, 2012, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-Hwan, and Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-Jin agreed on the cybersecurity cooperation at the second session of the U.S. Republic of Korea Foreign and Defense Ministerial Consultation or 2+2 meeting in Washington DC.

In their joint statement following the meeting, the two governments stated, “The Ministers acknowledged that a proactive and whole-of-government approach is needed to address the increasing threats in cyberspace, which may put the infrastructure of both out nations at great risk.” Thus, “they decided to establish a cyber issues dialogue involving relevant ministries and agencies.^{(footnote:ⅰ)}

At the joint press conference, Defense Minister Kim explained that stronger cybersecurity cooperation is indispensable, given “North Korea’s increasing asymmetric threats such as cyber threats like the DDoS attacks and GPS jamming.Secretary Panetta added that U.S. and Korean military^{(footnote:ⅱ)} will “mak[e] out bilateral military exercises more realistic through the introduction of cyber and network elements.^{(footnote:ⅲ)}

According to JoongAng Ilbo, a South Korean major newspaper, the two countries will hold the first meeting for the consultative body between mid and late August in Washington DC, and will invite the Ministry of National Defense, National Intelligence Service, and Korea Communications Commission.^{(footnote:ⅳ)}Trilateral cooperation over global commons such as space and cyberspace was promoted among Japan-U.S.-Korea and Japan-U.S.-Australia at the joint press conference after the U.S.-Japan Security Consultative Committee or “2 + 2” on June 21, 2011.^{(footnote:ⅴ)}

In fact, Secretary Panetta endorsed this idea at the joint press conference after the U.S.-Korea 2 + 2 meeting in June 2012: he argued that trilateral security collaboration between Japan, the United States, and South Korea “helps strengthen regional security and provides the additional deterrent with respect to North Korea.^{(footnoteⅵ)}Yet, he did not limit this cooperation to cybersecurity.

It is noteworthy that the 2012 Japan-U.S. 2 + 2 meeting did not discuss either cybersecurity or cyber-threat related joint military exercises, although the 2011 meeting agreed on bilateral cybersecurity cooperation. As of June 25th, 2012, Tokyo has not responded to the U.S.-Korea cyber dialogues as far as open sources indicate.

Related Informations:

1. Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Outcome of the 2nd ROK-US Foreign and Defense Ministers’ (2 + 2) Meeting,” June 15, 2012,
   http://www.mofat.go.kr/ENG/press/ministrynews/20120615/1_38904.jsp?menu=m_10_10
2. U.S. Department of State, “Remarks With Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-Hwan and Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-Jin After Their Meeting,” June 14, 2012,
   http://m.state.gov/md192400.htm
3. U.S. Department of State, ibid.
4. JoongAng Ilbo, “Kita no saiba tero ni taio… Kanbei anpo kyogitai wo sosetsu [U.S.-ROK security consultative body will be established to counter North Korean cyber-terrorism],”June 16, 2012,
   http://japanese.joins.com/article/832/153832.html?servcode=A00&sectcode=A20
5. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, “Nichibei anzen hosho kyogi iinkai (“2+2”) kyodo kishakaiken [Joint Press Conference after the U.S.-Japan Security Consultative Committee, ‘2 + 2’],” June 21, 2011, http://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/area/usa/hosho/kaiken1106.html
6. U.S. Department of State, ibid.

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