The Presidential Office said on the 23rd that it had conducted advance security checks on major information systems ahead of the Chuseok holiday.
The checks covered about 100 key systems, including telecommunications, finance, transportation such as railways, airlines and buses, and emergency lines such as 112 and 119 that are directly tied to public safety. The Presidential Office said travel and the use of financial and telecommunications services are concentrated during the Chuseok holiday, while agencies and companies operate with fewer staff, meaning any system failure could have a large impact on daily life.
A joint civilian-government-military cyber situation room will also operate at the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) during the holiday. The situation room will share cyber threat information among state and public institutions, the private sector and the military, and will monitor for signs of abnormal activity. "We will operate round-the-clock cyber threat monitoring and an emergency response system for major information systems," the Presidential Office said. "If a major cyber threat occurs, we will support the sharing of information among relevant agencies as well as joint analysis and response."
Song Ki-ho, third deputy director of the National Security Office, visited the situation room the same day, held a meeting and reviewed the response system. "So that the public can spend the Chuseok holiday with peace of mind, thoroughly check in advance for vulnerabilities in systems directly tied to daily life, such as telecommunications, finance, transportation and safety, and if an incident occurs, quickly share information among agencies and respond jointly," Song said.
