US-South Korea-Japan Agree to Form Consultation Group to Anticipate North Korean Cyber ​​Threats

(ki-ka) senior security advisers In Seong-hwan (South Korea), Anne Neuberger (US) and Keiichi Ichikawa (Japan) in Washington DC (Source: Presidential Office)

JAKARTA - The United States, South Korea and Japan have agreed to launch a high-level consultation group, to counter North Korea's cyber activities which they say are unlawfully funding its domestic weapons programs, South Korea's presidential office said on Monday.

Anne Neuberger, deputy US National Security Advisor for Cyberspace and Emerging Technologies, held talks with her counterparts from South Korea and Japan in Washington D.C., United States last week. They agreed to hold quarterly meetings based on the new framework, the president's office said.

"This aims to strengthen the effective response capabilities of the three countries against global cyber threats, including jointly countering North Korea's misuse of cyber activities as the main source of funding for its nuclear and weapons of mass destruction programs," the office said in a statement, reported by Reuters, November 6.

This consultation body is a follow-up to the meeting of President Joe Biden, President Yoon Suk-yeol and PM Fumio Kishida at Camp David last August, where they agreed to form a trilateral working group to anticipate North Korean threats in cyberspace, quoted from The Korea Times.

Sanctions monitors accuse North Korea of ​​using cyber attacks to raise funds for its nuclear and missile programs. A UN report said North Korea stepped up cryptocurrency theft last year, using advanced techniques to steal more funds in 2022 than in any other year.

On the other hand, North Korea denies accusations of hacking or other cyber attacks directed at them.