Key Takeaways

- The United States and South Korea’s drive to attain global AI leadership re-enforces the need for a strong cybersecurity foundation. 

- Building upon the past, the two nations must establish a “future-oriented” U.S.-ROK cyber alliance in the Indo-Pacific region, focusing on near-term cooperation with Southeast Asia nations.

- Overall, U.S.–ROK cooperation on AI and cybersecurity is a strategic opportunity to modernize the alliance and address shared intra- and cross-regional digital security challenges.

Across a spectrum of critical and emerging technologies, South Korea—one of the world’s leading developers and producers for semiconductors—remains a pivotal technology partner for the United States. On August 25, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump and newly-elected South Korean President Lee Jae-myung met for their inaugural summit in Washington, D.C. While the conversation was overshadowed by the prevailing tariff negotiations, the crux of the summit centered on strategies for modernizing U.S.-South Korean relations towards a “future-oriented” strategic alliance. To this end, the U.S.-ROK cybersecurity cooperation presents a strategic opening for strengthening bilateral cooperation.

As the two nations look to bolster their bilateral security partnership, targeting areas of mutual benefit and success will be pivotal in tacking the evolving economic and defense landscape in the Indo-Pacific region. While emerging digital technologies and platforms offer vast potential for the region—representing significant shares of global GDP and trade—expanding cyber security challenges could cripple progress unless determined, collective action is taken.

Moving forward, Washington and Seoul have a window of opportunity to enhance the U.S.-ROK bilateral cybersecurity cooperation—both within public-private relations and defense sectors—and support regional cybersecurity infrastructure and practice in the broader Indo-Pacific region.

South Korea’s Expanded AI & Cybersecurity Agenda

Since taking office, President Lee has set a bold agenda for South Korea’s leadership in the global AI race. Based on Lee’s first economic blueprint, the South Korean government’s ambitious fiscal policy to promote domestic growth centers powerfully on policy-driven “AI transformation” across leading industries. Already, South Korea is a leader in the AI-driven semiconductor market—accounting for approximately 13% of the total global market—with companies like Samsung and SK Hynix dominating memory chip production, particularly in High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM), a critical component for AI systems. Domestically, the Lee administration is determined to leverage South Korea’s technical prowess, targeting science and technology (S&T) innovation across multiple sectors, to boost the nation’s lagging economy.

On the international stage, South Korea has demonstrated global leadership in establishing norms-building for AI development and usage in recent year. Entering the AI governance discussion, the ROK government launched the 2024 AI Seoul Summit, convening international policy, industry, and academia leaders for a first-of-a-kind program in the Indo-Pacific region. Beyond the private sectors, Seoul later hosted the Responsible AI in the Military Domain (REAIM) Summit—gaining global recognizing for its growing AI governance initiatives. Today, under newly-elected President Lee’s guidance, Seoul aims to further its leadership position by establishing full-scale support initiatives to rapidly develop and up-scale local AI R&D and industry expansion.

However, with technical progress emerges security challenges. Recently, President Lee punctuated the important connection between technical progress and security for the future of South Korea’s AI development, stating that “[…] only with strong cyber-security can Korea realistically become on of the world’s top three AI powers. Evidently, South Korea’s AI aspirations must be rooted in strong and sustainable operational frameworks for cybersecurity resilience—both at home and among allies. Looking forward, South Korea’s drive to advance AI-centered policy and S&T industry presents a timely and paramount opening to further U.S.-ROK future-leaning cybersecurity cooperation.

Advancing U.S.-ROK Cybersecurity Cooperation

The translational nature of cyber space necessitates bilateral and international defense cooperation. As security allies, the United States and South Korea have a robust and well-established cybersecurity partnership. Highlighted during the celebration of the 70^th of the U.S.-ROK Alliance in 2023, the two nations share mutual commitments to strengthening bilateral alignment on international cyber policy. Building on this long history, the 2024 U.S.-ROK Strategic Cybersecurity Cooperation Framework strengthened mutual policy alignment, solidified joint initiatives, and ensured the establishment of regional capacity-building to detect, deter, and disrupt malicious cyber activities.

Following the U.S. revision towards a “Defense Forward”-centered national cyber policy, South Korea launched its re-aligned 2024 National Cybersecurity Strategy, targeting strategies for reinforcing domestic institutional defenses for public and private institutions and denoting cyber threat actors and activities. Most recently, U.S.-led cyber security and intelligence-sharing exercises, such as the annual Cyber Flag, bring together key U.S allies—including the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, South Korea, and Japan—aims to enhance multilateral capacity against cyber-attacks.

Moreover, a focus on bridging international and regional cybersecurity cooperation to establish tailored, expandable capacity-building in the Indo-Pacific region has been high on the U.S.-ROK cybersecurity agenda. For example, South Korea reaffirmed its join commitments with the United States to establishment of “international stability in the cyberspace,” at the 7^th U.S.-ROK Cyber Policy Consultations in January 2024. Similarly, the United States and South Korea jointly declared the “Regional Cooperation Framework for U.S.-ROK Alliance Contributions to Security in the Indo-Pacific”—specifically calling for closer cooperation in Southeast Asia on cyber defense mechanisms. Since then, South Korea has explored diversifying channels and targets of international cooperation to promote cyber capacity-building initiatives in the broader region.

Building Towards Southeast Asia

A key element of strengthening U.S.–ROK cybersecurity cooperation could involve jointly pursuing renewed avenues for engagement in Southeast Asia, with a focus on regional capacity-building initiatives that enhance resilience and narrow existing capability gaps.

Across Southeast Asia, nations are rapidly investing in digitization—viewing cyberspace as the next frontier of socio-economic progress—but, despite intra- and cross-regional cooperation, struggle to keep pace with escalating cyber threats. As these nations look to grow their digital ecosystems for public and private usage, the need for collective cyber defense architecture is more pressing than ever before.

Many Southeast Asian countries have adopted advanced regulatory frameworks and institutionalized goal-oriented policy platforms—including the Philippines’ National Cybersecurity Plan, Singapore’s Smart Nation, and Thailand’s Cybersecurity Policy and Action Plan. Beyond the national-level, the Association for Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) frameworks on digital economy and infrastructure development, such as the Cybersecurity Cooperation Strategy for 2021-2025, the Cybersecurity and Information Centre of Excellence, and the Singapore-led Cyber Capacity Programme, continue to provide channels for intra-regional discussions and collaborations. The establishment and buy-in to regional platforms on safeguarding digital ecosystems and critical information infrastructures (CII) signals individual and multinational recognition for the imperative to foster informed, prepared, and resilient cybersecurity cooperation.

Despite varying initiatives, however, Southeast Asian governments emphasize similar challenges to their expanding digital economies from lack of informed workforce and difficulties in establishing cybersecurity-relevant public–private information pathways to the necessity of harmonizing national strategies with international cooperation. As these nations look to secure their commercial and military information networks, engagement with the United States and allies, such as South Korea, is particularly valuable, especially in capacity-building, information-sharing, and bolstering cross-sector resilience.

Already, South Korea’s hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation’s (APEC) first high-level Digital & AI Ministerial Meeting demonstrates Seoul ability to serve as a cross-regional hub in establishing engagement pathways among the twenty-one leading economies in the Indo-Pacific region. To counter evolving cyber threats across the region, stronger cooperation with partners like the United States and South Korea, deeper workforce development, and greater coordination within ASEAN will be increasingly critical.

Forward-Looking Opportunities

Looking forward, the United States and South Korea are uniquely positioned to shape the future of collective cybersecurity in the Indo-Pacific region. Beyond summits, the United States and South Korea should leverage their advanced cyber capabilities to serve as anchors for broader regional cooperation among Southeast Asian nations.

By deepening bilateral cooperation and extending their joint efforts to Southeast Asia, the two nations can strengthen regional cyber resilience through the expanding regional threat information-sharing platforms and conducting regular multilateral cyber-relevant table top and in-region exercises to improve detection and response to malicious activity.

Importantly, the U.S. and South Korea should coordinate with ASEAN mechanisms and local partners to strengthen legal and regulatory frameworks, reduce reliance on adversary-linked ICT infrastructure, and promote secure digital connectivity—creating a more resilient Southeast Asian cyber ecosystem that deters state-backed and criminal cyber actors alike. Expanding multilateral initiatives with ASEAN will not only safeguard critical infrastructure but also advance a future-oriented U.S.–ROK alliance rooted in shared security and prosperity.

Without decisive leadership and unified regional effort, the Indo-Pacific’s strategic trajectory—and the region’s digital future—may be perilously vulnerable. Ultimately, Washington and Seoul’s joint engagement in Southeast Asia represents both a strategic necessity and an opportunity to demonstrate leadership in building a secure, thriving digital economy the region.