Fourth U.S.-ROK Working Group Meeting on the DPRK Cyber Threat

The Republic of Korea (ROK) hosted the 4th U.S.-ROK Working Group on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) Cyber Threat on July 26, led by Deputy Special Representative for the DPRK Dr. Jung Pak and ROK Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director-General for North Korean Nuclear Affairs Lee Jun-il. The meeting underscores the close collaboration between the U.S. and ROK governments to disrupt the DPRK’s ability to generate revenue for its unlawful WMD and ballistic missile programs.

The United States and ROK are pursuing a wide range of actions to address the DPRK’s malicious cyber activity, including its theft of virtual currencies, and DPRK information technology workers working abroad by fraudulently posing as non-DPRK nationals. The U.S.-ROK working group discussed how to more effectively partner with foreign governments and industry leaders to raise awareness of the threat posed by DPRK cyber actors and to increase information sharing between governments and the private sector on cyber security issues.

The working group also discussed the DPRK’s social engineering and hacking tactics to steal information related to geopolitical events, foreign policy, and other topics of interest from research centers, academic institutions, and media organizations. For more information on the DPRK’s cyber espionage threat, read the recent advisory here .