The South Korean government will establish a public-private joint response system to counter cybersecurity threats driven by artificial intelligence (AI). The plan unifies vulnerability and patch management agencies and rapidly shares information with about 28,000 companies, the military, and the National Intelligence Service (NIS) to strengthen preemptive preparedness and emergency response capabilities.
The Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) announced the “Private-Sector Information Protection Promotion Plan to Respond to AI-Based Cyber Threats” at the 9th Science and Technology-Related Ministers’ Meeting held on the 29th.
The government will first establish a cross-government governance structure centered on the Office of National Security under the President, with participation from MSIT, NIS, and the Ministry of National Defense. In particular, MSIT will operate a general situation room overseeing the private sector, while each relevant ministry will run its own situation room.
The Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA), under MSIT, will set up a vulnerability management center dedicated to vulnerability and patch management, providing technical support to relevant ministries and companies.
Centered on KISA’s vulnerability information portal (KNVD), the system will broadly collect and analyze vulnerabilities and patches, then share them with companies, ministry-level situation rooms, and the entire public-military network to enable immediate action. Through this emergency response system, chief information security officers (CISOs) at about 28,000 companies and existing private cooperation channels such as the Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAC) and the Cyber Threat Analysis and Sharing System (C-TAS) will rapidly receive cyber threat information.
For 1,200 major companies in fields with high potential impact from hacking incidents — including finance, healthcare, and energy — each relevant ministry will oversee asset management, vulnerability inspections, and patch response, while the government will conduct sector-specific implementation checks.
MSIT also plans to pilot the application of state-of-the-art high-performance AI models, secured through international cooperation, across vulnerability and patch operations and software support for small and medium-sized enterprises. “Starting with securing OpenAI’s Government and Tactical Access Coalition (GTAC), a trust-based access program for governments and institutions, we will continue cooperation with global Big Tech and strengthen partnerships with cybersecurity agencies in allied nations,” MSIT said.
Mid- to long-term projects to strengthen AI security capabilities are also expected to be developed. MSIT said it will undertake a major transition of the country’s information protection system to one based on independent AI technology starting next year, in preparation for the routine use of high-performance AI in security and its weaponization for attacks.
“The pace of AI development in cybersecurity is fast enough to rival top-tier hackers, and if Korea fails to build a security system and global cooperation suited to the AI era, our leap to becoming one of the world’s top three AI powers will be shaken,” Deputy Prime Minister Bae Kyung-hoon said. “Through these measures, we will establish an emergency system to respond to large-scale AI-driven vulnerability disclosures, and swiftly pursue the establishment of AI security sovereignty based on our own technology and models.”
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