The 4th Republic of Korea (ROK)-United Kingdom (UK) Cyber Dialogue was held in London on Wednesday 6 November 2024. The meeting was co-chaired by Andrew Whittaker, Cyber Director in the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), and Rhee Dong-yeol, Ambassador for International Cyber Affairs in the ROK Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA).
The dialogue involved around 50 officials from cybersecurity-related departments and agencies in the 2 countries. The UK was represented by officials from the FCDO, Cabinet Office, National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), Department for Business and Trade (DBT), Home Office, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), and Ministry of Defence (MOD). The ROK was represented by officials from the Republic of Korea’s MOFA, National Security Office, and National Cyber Security Centre.
Both chairs agreed to further strengthen cooperation on cybersecurity as a key area of cooperation in the bilateral relationship, and reviewed implementation of the Strategic Cyber Partnership which was agreed during the State Visit of President Yoon in November 2023.
The agenda included exchanges of views on the deterrence strategy against cyber threats, private sector collaboration on cybersecurity, countering malicious online behaviour including serious organised crime and ransomware, the Pall Mall Process to tackle the proliferation and irresponsible use of commercial cyber intrusion capabilities, cyber skills, and cooperation in cyber capacity building with partner countries across the region.
Both sides agreed to deepen cooperation to respond to state-backed malicious cyber activities that impact each of our countries and undermine the rules-based international system. Both sides share a commitment to ensuring that the perpetrators of malicious cyber activity are held to account. They agreed to work together, and with international partners, to deter future incidents by making it clear that irresponsible behaviour in cyberspace will have serious consequences. They noted North Korea’s persistent illicit cyber activities, including the theft of cryptocurrency and of data and technology in support of its development of nuclear weapons and missiles, continue to pose a serious threat to national security and international peace and security. They noted the use of cyber in Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine and their concerns over the deepening relationship between DPRK and Russia more broadly. They also noted widespread credible evidence of malicious cyber activity emanating from China. They noted the need to continue engaging with countries like China to see a constructive debate aimed at making cyberspace a safer place to do business for companies and consumers.
Prior to the dialogue, joint workshops were held to share good practices and lessons learned from both countries’ policy work to target malign cyber actors. This included exploration of efforts to counter North Korea’s malign activities including cryptocurrency theft and revenue generation through fraudulent provision of IT workers, as well as the use of cyber-specific sanctions as a tool for disrupting and deterring a range of threat actors.
The Dialogue confirmed that the fourth iteration of the British Army Cyber Association’s flagship cyber exercise, Defence Cyber Marvel (DCM4), will take place in February with its command centre in Seoul. DCM4 will see teams taking part in various challenges to defend against cyberattacks. Participant teams will join from around the world, with UK personnel deploying to South Korea to manage the exercise and extended participation from the Republic of Korea. This will be the first time that the exercise has been run from outside of Europe, reflecting the strength of the bilateral relationship, and is a landmark demonstration of the British Army’s ability to deploy cyber specialists to work with partners around the world. DCM4 is funded in part through the Integrated Security Fund’s International Cyber Portfolio, which supports initiatives to improve the capacity of the UK’s international partners to cooperate on security issues.
Both chairs committed that the ROK and UK would continue to cooperate closely on cybersecurity issues going forward.