Russia-North Korea Build Cyber Ties… Urgent Need for Whole-of-Government Response

2024.07.23. The Fair Economy — The Institute for National Security Strategy (INSS) recently published an Issue Brief report (No. 576) titled "Cybersecurity Implications and Lessons of the New Russia-North Korea Treaty."

In the report, Kim So-jeong, a senior research fellow, said, "The 'Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty' signed by Russia and North Korea last June appears likely to significantly affect science and technology as well as cybersecurity." She added, "In particular, the specific areas of cooperation named in the treaty — management and use of internet infrastructure, punishment for malicious use, application of state-centered sovereignty and international law, recognition of exclusive status over information and services circulated in cyberspace, and exclusion of other countries' interference in the use of services for political purposes — are subjects that have been sharply contested in cybersecurity norms discussions over the past 30-odd years."

She analyzed that the inclusion of numerous cybersecurity-related provisions in the treaty gave North Korea an opportunity to join one side of the camp-based competition underway in the process of shaping cybersecurity norms, and that this appears to be a response to the 2022 South Korea-U.S. summit, the 2023 South Korea-U.S. summit and the signing of the Strategic Cybersecurity Cooperation Framework, and the strengthening of South Korea-U.S.-Japan cooperation in 2023.

She also assessed that, through the treaty with Russia, North Korea has responded to the strengthening of South Korea-U.S.-Japan-centered cooperation and coordination while establishing a basis for securing advanced technology and, if necessary, mutual support. This stands in contrast to past North Korea-originated cyberattacks, which were unilateral actions, and forms the backdrop for the treaty's explicit commitment to actively participate in future norm discussions within the international community.

Kim So-jeong said, "Based on this treaty, Russia and North Korea are expected to strengthen the application of state-centered cyberspace sovereignty and international law, increase their non-cooperation with sanctions against North Korea, actively participate in and expand their role in shaping cybersecurity norms, provide mutual support in the event of cyber disputes, and increase the potential use of North Korean IT workers dispatched overseas as mercenaries." She added, "This calls for strengthening research capabilities on macro-level, comprehensive hybrid threats that integrate traditional security and cybersecurity, as well as securing a whole-of-government response capacity."