South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has called for the creation of a powerful government-wide cybersecurity body to coordinate defences that are currently scattered across agencies, warning that the country’s existing system is showing clear limitations.
“The existing security system, which centres on inspections and after-the-fact responses, is showing clear limitations,” Lee told a cabinet meeting on Tuesday. He called for a comprehensive preventive system to protect public services and critical infrastructure, rather than one that reacts only after an attack.
Lee also asked ministers to consider a government-wide task force spanning both the public and private sectors, and a single coordinating authority — what he called a cybersecurity “tsar” body — that could oversee and align security functions now divided between different organisations.
The push comes after a wave of cyber intrusions against South Korea. The National Intelligence Service has launched emergency security inspections covering more than 2,100 central government ministries, local governments and public institutions, Yonhap News Agency reported. South Korea’s financial sector has also been hit by attacks in recent weeks.
Lee referred during the meeting to the multibillion-dollar theft affecting Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, but did not directly name North Korea, which the FBI has blamed for the attack. North Korea denied involvement on Tuesday.
North Korean hackers have previously been blamed for numerous attacks on cryptocurrency companies, banks and government systems in South Korea, and the latest call reflects growing concern in Seoul that fragmented defences leave critical systems exposed.
What the new body would look like in practice remains to be decided. Lee asked ministers to actively consider its design, but no structure, powers or timetable were announced on Tuesday, and it is not yet clear how a coordinating authority would sit alongside existing agencies such as the National Intelligence Service.
Note: the featured image is a file photo of President Lee Jae Myung during a visit to the United States in August 2025, not a photograph of Tuesday’s cabinet meeting.
Sources: Reuters, “South Korea’s Lee calls for powerful government-wide cybersecurity body”, 3 November 2026, https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/south-koreas-lee-calls-powerful-government-wide-cybersecurity-body-2026-11-03/
