Third United States-Japan-Republic of Korea Trilateral Diplomatic Working Group Meeting on Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Cyber Activities

On September 6, the United States, Japan, and the Republic of Korea convened in Seoul for the third meeting of the Trilateral Diplomatic Working Group to counter cyber threats posed by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). Led by U.S. Deputy Special Representative for the DPRK Seth Bailey, ROK Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director General for Korean Peninsula Policy Lee Jun-il, and Japanese Ambassador in charge of Cyber Policy Kumagai Naoki, the group reviewed the substantial progress made in deepening trilateral collaboration to disrupt the DPRK’s ability to generate and launder revenue through malicious cyber activity, IT workers, and third-party facilitators, which it uses to fund its unlawful WMD and ballistic missile programs. The working group included participants from nearly 20 U.S., ROK, and Japanese government departments, ministries, and agencies.

Through the working group, the United States, the ROK, and Japan will continue to coordinate on a wide range of trilateral actions, underscoring the historic cooperation established at the Camp David Summit, including efforts to prevent DPRK cryptocurrency heists, disrupt IT worker networks, engage partners on the DPRK cyber threat, and develop trilateral capacity building assistance efforts. The three sides also discussed their approach to autonomous sanctions and the importance of private industry efforts to address DPRK cyber issues.