South Korea to take part in US-led cyber exercise amid rising security threats from North Korea

SEOUL — South Korea’s Cyber Operations Command will participate in a US-led multinational cyber exercise this week to boost its capabilities to counter malicious cyber activities, Seoul’s defence ministry said on Sunday, amid growing security threats from North Korea.

According to the defence ministry, nine personnel from South Korea’s military will join the Cyber Flag exercise to be held from Sunday through Saturday (local time) in the US state of Virginia.

The online exercise is designed to sharpen skills for multinational cooperation in countering cyber threats and share intelligence against enemies’ cyber activities, reports Yonhap news agency.

Since 2011, the US Cyber Command has conducted the cyber exercise annually to improve the readiness of Washington, its allies and partner countries against security threats in the online domain.

This year’s exercise involves 18 nations, including the ‘Five Eyes’ intelligence alliance, which consists of the US, Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, and other partner countries.

It will mark South Korea’s third participation in the exercise since the nation first joined it in 2022.