Meeting Held to Discuss Cyber Defense After North Korea’s Attack

As North Korea continued various provocations since the beginning of the year, the government held a Central Integrated Defense Meeting to check various provocation possibilities and discuss countermeasures.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff announced on the 31st, “The 57th Central Integrated Defense Meeting was concluded this morning to establish an integrated defense posture.” The Integrated Defense Meeting is a meeting held annually to evaluate and check last year’s performance, with key personnel from all national defense elements gathered in one place.

The meeting was chaired by President Yoon Suk Yeol, with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, Chief of National Security Jang Ho-jin, Chairman of the National Defense Committee Han Ki-ho of the National Assembly, chiefs of the military, police, coast guard, fire department, and about 160 key personnel related to integrated defense, including the National Intelligence Service, attended.

In particular, this year, 11 citizen observers including representatives of citizens who contributed to the integrated defense through reports of North Korean defectors and illegal entry ships, representatives of residents in the frontline, capital area, and rear areas, attended for the first time. The military authorities explained that it added the meaning of ‘Integrated Defense with the People’.

At this meeting, the National Intelligence Service announced the outlook for North Korea’s threats to South Korea, and the Ministry of Public Administration and Security explained the evaluation and direction of civil defense readiness. The Integrated Defense Headquarters announced the achievements of military readiness and integrated defense readiness last year and the direction for this year.

During the theme discussion time, discussions were held assuming situations that could threaten the safety of our citizens. The military authorities explained that they have derived specific policy alternatives such as legal and system improvements, measures by each institution, and collaboration plans between related institutions.

In fact, concerning the ‘Countermeasure for Long-Range Artillery Provocation against the Capital Area’, measures for protecting citizens such as improving the warning propagation system and reinforcing and maintaining citizen evacuation facilities were discussed.

For the ‘Countermeasures in Case of Damage due to Cyber and Electromagnetic Attacks’, key computer network protection measures, emergency recovery plans for control systems, and measures to identify and block various fake news were mentioned.

Kim Myung-soo, the Director of the Integrated Defense (Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff), said, “We will make the best efforts to achieve tangible results that the people can feel by turning the opinions raised in today’s meeting into tasks and pushing them systematically with related institutions.”