The United States has once again brought South Korea to another battlefield command headquarters | Network | United States

Only 9 months later, South Korea once again participated in a US led cyber warfare exercise.

Yonhap News Agency cited the latest news from the South Korean Ministry of Defense, stating that the South Korean Army's Cyber Warfare Command participated in a remote "Network Flag" multinational joint cyber attack and defense exercise from July 17th to 28th.

On May 9th, the 8th meeting of the South Korea US Defense Network Policy Working Group. Since 2011, the US Cyberspace Command has been hosting the aforementioned exercises, once a year, aimed at "enhancing the joint cyber warfare readiness of allies.". In addition to members of the Five Eyes Alliance who share intelligence, South Korea and Singapore also participated in this year's joint exercise. And this is also the second time South Korea has participated in the performance since October last year.

The Governor of Chang'an Street noticed that in recent years, South Korea has followed the United States in the field of cybersecurity, causing the shadow of "cyber warfare" to frequently appear in Asia.

"Internet Flag" Soars Asia

According to reports, the "Network Flag" joint exercise consists of two parts: a tactical level network security attack and defense exercise and a seminar. Participants will share relevant information and simulate network warfare.

In October 2022, the South Korean military sent 18 people to participate in a 5-day exercise for the first time. In fact, South Korea has already laid the groundwork for joining the US cyber warfare alliance.

Since 2010, South Korea has established the Cyber Command, which was upgraded to a direct command of the Ministry of National Defense the following year. This department is mainly responsible for carrying out technical intelligence reconnaissance, psychological warfare, and network defense tasks. Initially, it had 450 personnel and increased to 1000 in 2014.

In April 2022, the South Korean National Intelligence Agency participated in the world's largest international cyber attack and defense exercise, "Lock Shield," organized by the NATO Cooperation Network Defense Center.

Just one month later, this South Korean intelligence agency announced its official membership in the NATO Cooperation Network Defense Center, becoming the first Asian country to join the agency.

South Korean media claim that this collaboration with NATO is a reflection of South Korea's soft and hard power in the field of cyberspace, and also a reflection of the continuous deepening and expansion of South Korean NATO relations.

In May of the same year, during President Biden's visit to South Korea, he agreed with South Korean President Yoon Seok yeol to deepen and expand cooperation between the two countries on key and emerging technologies and cybersecurity.

According to Yonhap News Agency, at the meeting of the South Korea US Defense Network Policy Working Group held in May this year, the South Korean side expressed its intention to participate in the annual exercise. The US previously responded with "positive consideration" and later approved it.

According to the Korean Herald, the South Korean Cyber Warfare Command stated in a statement, "Our command will seek to strengthen joint cybersecurity capabilities through communication with the United States and sharing of personnel and technology."

An analysis suggests that the real military cooperation between South Korea and Western countries in the field of cyberspace means that the United States and its allies are accelerating their expansion from traditional battlefields to new types of combat areas. The United States, together with its allies, is continuously enhancing asymmetric domain readiness while maintaining strategic weapons and conventional military capabilities.

At present, the "internet flag" that has penetrated Asia is also constantly giving rise to a "new cold war" atmosphere in the Asia Pacific region and even globally.

Desperately squeezing into the "protective umbrella"

However, ironically, as South Korea continues to approach the United States, the biggest cybersecurity threat is actually the United States.

In April this year, on the eve of Yoon Seok yeol's visit to the United States, US intelligence agencies were exposed for monitoring the South Korean government. A leaked document provides a very detailed description of the dialogue between two senior South Korean national security officials, involving concerns from the South Korean National Security Council about the United States' demand for ammunition.

However, the South Korean National Security Office responded that the South Korean side did not find any signs of the US monitoring and eavesdropping on the South Korean side for malicious motives.

The South Korean presidential office has made a statement, and there have been similar cases in the past, but it has not shaken South Korea US relations.

During the subsequent visit to the United States, Yin Xiyue not only did not express dissatisfaction with the eavesdropping incident, but also signed a strategic cybersecurity cooperation framework agreement with the United States to expand network cooperation.

The agreement shows that cooperation between South Korea and the United States will expand to cyberspace, and both sides will enhance cooperation in cybersecurity technologies, policies, and strategies such as information sharing, building mutual trust.

Subsequently, the South Korean presidential office expressed the hope that this move could become a symbolic opportunity to build a "cyber umbrella" similar to a "nuclear umbrella".

Under the "eavesdropping storm", South Korea still chooses to "without hesitation" rush into the so-called "protective umbrella" of the United States, which can be said to have extreme self deception.

On June 23rd, the high-level consultation mechanism for South Korea and the United States to jointly address cybersecurity issues was officially established, which is also seen as a follow-up to the agreement reached at the previous summit.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the South Korean side has proposed sharing threat intelligence, participating in training with each other, and conducting personnel exchanges to follow up on the cooperation framework between South Korea and the United States. The United States has proposed the development of major cybersecurity policies and related standards, as well as the implementation of a zero condition trust policy.

"In the future, the Cyber Warfare Command will not only conduct joint exercises led by the United States, but also develop cooperation mechanisms between South Korea and the United States through bilateral exercises, network professionals, and technical exchanges between the Cyber Warfare Command of South Korea and the United States." In response to this year's exercise, the South Korean Ministry of Defense made the above statement.

Since taking office, the Yin Xiyue government has been committed to promoting stronger cooperation with the United States and its allies. However, relying on a role that often creates cyber crises in other countries for national cybersecurity, whether such a "protective umbrella" can be called "security", is only known by the South Korean government itself.