The Cybersecurity Policy of the Republic of Korea 2017–2025

The present article examines the evolution of the Republic of Korea's cybersecurity policy between 2017 and 2025 under the influence of foreign policy factors. In recent decades, the issue of cybersecurity has assumed a pivotal role in the formulation of national policies. Despite its considerable economic and technical development, the South Korean government has historically neglected to allocate sufficient resources to the protection of its national cyber borders. This oversight has resulted in a series of significant cyberattacks on critical infrastructure during the 2010s. In 2019, Moon Jae-in's government published its inaugural national cybersecurity strategy, which was of a defensive nature. This decision was made within the context of a stabilizing international political environment, characterized by intensified diplomatic negotiations between the United States and North Korea. However, following another crisis on the Korean peninsula, South Korea shifted its focus towards cyber cooperation with Western countries. The final transition to an offensive doctrine in the cyber sphere took place in 2024, when the conservative government of Yoon Suk-yeol adopted an updated national cybersecurity strategy, significantly expanding cooperation with military alliances aimed at Russia, China, and North Korea. One of primary motivations for the revision of policy in the cyber sphere was the escalation of the Ukrainian crisis and the subsequent confrontation between Russia and the collective West. The Republic of Korea is compelled to adopt proactive measures to ensure national cybersecurity due to a combination of factors, including the influence of the US-South Korea alliance, its geographical location in the center of a conflict-prone region, the traditional perception of an existential threat from North Korea, and the inability to independently protect its national cyberspace. At present, the Republic of Korea's efforts are predominantly concentrated on participating in the militarization of cyberspace through partnerships with intergovernmental organizations centered on the United States of America.