By Cyber Era NG Staff
The 1st ROK-US Working Group Meeting on the DPRK Cyber Threat was held in Washington D.C. on August 9. The Meeting was held to follow up on the ROK-US Leaders’ Joint Statement of May 21 in which the two Presidents agreed to significantly expand cooperation to confront a range of cyber threats from the DPRK.
The Meeting was headed by Director-General for North Korean Nuclear Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea, Lee Taewoo and Deputy Special Representative for the DPRK, US Department of State, Dr. Jung Pak respectively. The Meeting also brought together related government officials of the two countries in charge of the North Korean nuclear problem as well as cyber and cryptocurrency issues.
At the Meeting, the two sides reached a common understanding that close coordination between the two countries is crucial to block the DPRK’s attempts to generate hard currency for its nuclear and missile programmes through overseas IT workers and cryptocurrency heists. The two sides discussed how they could work together specifically to respond to the DPRK’s illicit cyber activities.
The two sides agreed to engage in further discussions by holding the 2nd Working Group Meeting in Seoul at an appropriate time within the year.
