From: Mashable

Military allies South Korea and the United States are working together to develop cyberwarfare scenarios in response to escalating threats from North Korea, South Korean media is reporting.

South Korea will also be increasing the number of cyberwarfare experts in its military ranks, according to a Monday report from Yonhap News. South Korea previously raised the number of experts in its “Cyber Command” from approximately 500 to 1,000 last year in response to increased attacks against South Korean institutions.

North and South Korea have both reported cyberattacks targeting their interests in recent weeks: North Korea claimed official websites were struck by hackers, while South Korean banks and media outlets were hit by a major cyberattack last week. The source of the latter strike remains unknown, but many commentators are pointing to North Korea.

South Korea’s devotion of increased time and resources to the realm of cybersecurity comes amid increasing bellicose rhetoric from North Korea, which last month threatened to turn South Korea into a “sea of flames” in response to United Nations sanctions and still-ongoing joint South Korean-American military drills. North Korea has also recently cut communications with South Korea and claimed the cease-fire between the two nations to be invalid.

It’s not known whether the United States and South Korea are developing purely defensive cybersecurity plans or devising offensive strategies as well. The United States has experience with offensive cyberwar, being largely considered responsible, along with Israel, for developing the Stuxnet virus that caused physical damage to an Iranian nuclear processing facility. The United States has a military cybersecurity wing of its own, the U.S. Cyber Command, which is in the process of developing 13 teams to carry out offensive operations in cyberspace.

Cybersecurity is but one element of the fomenting conflict and both countries’ physical fighting forces have been placed on high alert. North Korea’s ruling party on Sunday also committed to expanding the country’s nuclear arsenal, which it called “the nation’s life” during a meeting of the ruling party.

“The enemies are using both blackmail, telling us that we cannot achieve economic development unless we give up nuclear weapons, and appeasement, saying that they will help us live well if we choose a different path,” North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un was quoted as saying in The New York Times.

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