Top South Korean official in Baltic to curb cyber threats with NATO

By Kuksung Nam, The Readable
Apr. 18, 2023 7:20PM GMT+9

A South Korean national security adviser is headed to Lithuania on Monday to attend an international conference aimed at enhancing cybersecurity cooperation between the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member states and Asia-Pacific countries.

Lim Jong-deuk, the second deputy national security adviser, is visiting the capital city of Lithuania, Vilnius, to join the Cyber Champions Summit, according to a press release from the South Korean presidential office. The summit, which is co-organized by the Lithuanian Ministry of National Defense, the National Cyber Security Center, and the Regional Cyber Defense Center, is held for two days from April 17 to 18.

The Lithuanian Ministry of National Defense stated that the summit is designed to gather together high-level national cyber policy coordinators from NATO members and Asia-Pacific countries, including Japan and Australia. In addition, the conference plans to focus on countering Russian malicious cyber activities and protecting critical infrastructure from cyberattacks.

The South Korean national security adviser will participate in a roundtable session on defending the country’s critical infrastructure against emerging technologies with five other public and private officials, according to the official website of the international cyber summit. The South Korean presidential office stated that Lim will also conduct bilateral meetings with member states of the international intelligence alliance such as “Five Eyes,” the group which includes the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Furthermore, Lim will be visiting Estonia to engage in talks with Mart Noorma, the director of NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence (NATO CCDCOE), regarding the world’s largest live-fire cyber defense exercise, Locked Shields.

South Korea has been participating in the cyber defense exercise since 2021. This is the first time that the country will take part in the joint drill since joining the NATO cyber defense group. South Korea became the first country in Asia to formally participate in the NATO CCDCOE last May.

nam@thereadable.co

The cover image of this article was designed by Areum Hwang.
The photo of the cover image was taken by the Cyber Operations Command of South Korea.

Kuksung Nam is a journalist for The Readable. She has extensively traversed the globe to cover the latest stories on the cyber threat landscape and has been producing in-depth stories on security and privacy by engaging with industry giants, foreign government officials and experts. Before joining The Readable, Kuksung reported on politics for one of South Korea’s top-five local newspapers, The Kyeongin Ilbo. Her journalistic skills and reportage earned her the coveted Journalists Association of Korea award in 2021 for her essay detailing exclusive stories about the misconduct of a former government official. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in French from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, a testament to her linguistic capabilities.