South Korea’s Lee calls for powerful government-wide cybersecurity body
Sign up now: Get insights on Asia's fast-moving developments
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has pointed to limitations in the current capacity to protect critical systems.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung wants a powerful government-wide cybersecurity body. He said the current system is too reactive and cannot protect critical systems well.
- Lee also called for a public-private task force and a strong cybersecurity ‘tsar’ to coordinate scattered security work. The move aims to improve prevention for public services and key infrastructure.
- The warning follows the Binance theft and repeated cyber attacks on South Korea’s financial sector. The National Intelligence Service has begun emergency checks on more than 2,100 government and public bodies.
AI generated
SEOUL – South Korean President Lee Jae Myung called on Nov 3 for the creation of a powerful government-wide cybersecurity body to coordinate functions scattered across agencies, pointing to limitations in the current capacity to protect critical systems.
“The existing security system, which centres on inspections and after-the-fact responses, is showing clear limitations,” Lee told a Cabinet meeting, calling for a comprehensive preventive system to protect public services and critical infrastructure.
Lee also referred to the multibillion-dollar theft affecting Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, but did not directly name North Korea, which the US Federal Bureau of Investigation has blamed for the attack.
North Korea denied involvement on Nov 3.
“There is also a need to discuss setting up a government-wide task force that spans both the public and private sectors,” Lee said.
“I ask that you actively consider forming a powerful and effective cybersecurity ‘czar’ body that can oversee and coordinate security functions that are currently scattered.”
The National Intelligence Service had launched emergency security inspections covering more than 2,100 central government ministries, local governments and public institutions, Yonhap News Agency reported.
South Korea has faced repeated cyberintrusions, with its financial sector hit by attacks in recent weeks, and North Korean hackers have been blamed for numerous previous attacks on cryptocurrency companies, banks and government systems. REUTERS