According to CCTV News, on the 24th local time, the South Korean Ministry of Defense announced that the South Korean military participated in the "Cyber Flag" multinational joint cyber offensive and defense exercise led by the United States for the first time that day.
reported that the exercise was held in Virginia, USA. The South Korean military Cyber Operations Command sent 18 people to participate. The exercise will last until October 28. In addition to the United States and South Korea, there are also 25 countries including the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand , etc. participating.
Chang'an Street Governor (WeChat ID: Capitalnews) noticed that since this year, South Korea has accelerated its pace toward the United States and NATO in the field of cybersecurity.
In April this year, South Korea's National Intelligence Agency participated in the world's largest international cybersecurity offensive and defense exercise "locking shield" sponsored by the NATO Cooperation Cyber Defense Center (CCDCOE).
Only one month later, the South Korean National Intelligence Agency announced that it would join the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Center as an official member, becoming the first Asian country to join the institution.
South Korean media claimed that this time, NATO is a reflection of South Korea's soft and hard power in the field of cyberspace, and is also a "reflection of the continuous deepening and expansion of South Korea's relations with NATO."
Also in May, during the visit to South Korea, U.S. President Biden , he agreed with South Korean President Yoon Seo-yeol that the two countries "deepening and broadening cooperation on key and emerging technologies and cybersecurity."
Some analysts say that South Korea strives to get closer to the United States in terms of network security, and mainly has three strategic considerations.
First of all, it is to improve network security capabilities. In recent years, South Korea has paid more and more attention to the development of the field of cybersecurity. The South Korean National Intelligence Agency has long cooperated with more than 40 countries in this field.
The second is to increase the international "voice" of network security. South Korea hopes to achieve the goal of a strong country in the fields of Internet and other non-traditional security , so as to enhance international status and increase the voice in international network policy discussions.
The third is to strengthen the alliance between South Korea and the United States. Since the beginning of this year, in addition to participating in various US military exercises with high profile, South Korea has also joined the small circle led by the United States such as " Indo-Pacific Economic Framework " (IPEF), intending to lay the foundation for building a "all-round strategic alliance" relationship between South Korea and the United States in the future.
South Korea's active actions in cybersecurity are also in line with the United States' expectations.
The US military has long listed cyberspace as the fifth combat domain after land, sea, air and sky, and regards it as one of the important areas to ensure national security and enhance national defense strength.
In recent years, many senior US military officials have called for strengthening the construction of cyber warfare capabilities to better respond to modern warfare.
U.S. Army Deputy Chief of Staff John Morrison pointed out that in the past 20 years of anti-terrorism operations, the US Army has not paid enough attention to the construction of cyber warfare and electronic warfare capacity. In the future, cyber warfare and electronic warfare can be applied to many combat scenarios, and the Army must accelerate the development of cyber forces.
A US Army spokesperson previously said that as the US military shifts its strategic focus from counter-terrorism to "big power competition", the role of information and network deterrence is becoming increasingly prominent. Against this backdrop, the U.S. Army plans to double its cyber force size by 2030.
The spokesperson said that the size of the US Army's cyber force will increase from 3,000 to 6,000. The number of cyber warfare experts, including the U.S. Army Reserve and National Guard , will increase from 5,000 to 7,000.
In addition, the US Army proposed that at least $16.6 billion should be allocated to it in the 2023 fiscal year defense budget to support the construction and development of cyber forces.
In order to implement specific actions, the US military has increased the scale and frequency of network exercises with improving the US military's cyber offensive and defense capabilities as the core element. Especially since last year, in public reports alone, the US military has carried out more than 20 online exercises.
Take this "Network Flag" exercise for example. This is one of the major exercises of US Military Cyber Command . Since 2011, it has been held at least once a year, and there are many American allies participating in the exercise.
Some analysts believe that the United States continues to win over allies to join the cyber war exercises. On the one hand, is to unite allies to continuously improve combat readiness capabilities in the asymmetric field, which will give birth to a "new Cold War" atmosphere in the region and even globally.
On the other hand, the United States and its allies took advantage of exercises, conferences and other opportunities to formulate so-called rules in new combat areas such as cyberspace, trying to limit the development of strategic opponents by creating "small circles".
As the US military continues to promote the construction of cyber combat capabilities, the US military has now formed an asymmetric advantage in the field of cyber combat.
A senior US military executive revealed: "The US military cyber forces are contributing to the security of the US cyberspace, such as interfering with the enemy's command, obstructing the enemy's reconnaissance and combating the enemy's financial activities and destroying their payment capabilities."
What is more worthy of attention is that the destructive attacks caused by cyber warfare are not limited to military computer , but will also involve the computerized and automated parts of critical infrastructure, which may have catastrophic consequences for people's lives.
and American media recently revealed that American social media companies have discovered and closed a large number of false accounts suspected to be managed and operated by the US military. According to reports, these false accounts were used by the US military to carry out a secret information war, which caused an uproar in public opinion.
However, at present, cyber war still lacks the constraints of international law . This move by the US military may intensify the global cyberspace arms race and have a major negative impact on the international security landscape. In the future, how to prevent the United States' hegemony in the field of cybersecurity will be a common problem and responsibility faced by the international community.
Source: China National Defense News, Xinhua News Agency, CCTV News, etc.
Source: Visual China
