S. Korea, U.S. agree to join forces to fight cyber terrorism

(ATTN: RECASTS lead; ADDS details on joint exercise in paras 5-7)
By Sam Kim
SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the United States have forged a
tentative agreement to bolster cooperation in fighting cyber terrorism against
their defense networks, the defense ministry in Seoul said Monday.

The April 30 deal is aimed at "enhancing the interoperability of the information
systems used by the militaries of the U.S. and South Korea," the Ministry of
National Defense said in a release.
The memorandum of understanding between the allies mainly seeks to facilitate the
exchange of knowledge on detecting and fighting cyber terrorism, the ministry
said.
The U.S. is South Korea's closest ally and maintains a force of 28,500 here as a
deterrent against North Korea. The two countries fought together under the U.N.
banner in the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended without a formal peace treaty.
South Korea, which operates a weapons system similar to that of the U.S.,
organized a 30-member team last year to take part for the first time in a
U.S.-led international anti-hacking exercise.
It plans to expand its team this year to participate in similar exercises that
will draw more than a dozen countries next month and in October, a ministry
official said.
"It's like a game where teams try to infiltrate into each other's system based on
scenarios," the official said. "Hacking techniques have improved, and so have our
countermeasures. The exercises aim to share such knowledge."
The two countries will hold a conference on their joint readiness against
computer hacking at least once a year, according to their agreement.
Last month, U.S. media reported that a high-tech jet fighter program operated by
the Pentagon had been breached. U.S. computer networks come under persistent
attack, possibly from other countries, according to the reports.
samkim@yna.co.kr
(END)