South Korea's Lee wants a powerful government-wide cybersecurity body, citing the Binance theft, as his intelligence service checks more than 2,100 public bodies

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Tuesday ordered officials to review plans for a government-wide body to coordinate cybersecurity, citing the recent attack on Binance as an example, The Korea Times reported. Speaking at a Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, Lee said the body should cover both the public and private sectors, and asked officials to consider a powerful cybersecurity czar to pull together functions now spread across agencies.

"The existing security system, which centres on inspections and after-the-fact responses, is showing clear limitations," Lee said, according to Reuters. He said AI is making attacks more sophisticated and widespread, and called for earlier detection, faster sharing of warnings and stronger protection for telecommunications, energy and finance. Reuters said he did not name North Korea, which the FBI has blamed for the Binance theft.

The work is split today: the National Intelligence Service covers critical public infrastructure, the science ministry much of the private sector, and the Financial Services Commission financial-sector security, The Korea Times said. On October 22 the intelligence service asked more than 2,100 central and local government bodies to inspect their systems against a security checklist, and the science ministry is checking about 170 major private-sector infrastructure facilities, including telecoms, online platforms and finance, with completion expected by year-end.

The government has not announced a timetable for the new body, CoinDesk said. Youm Heung-youl, a professor emeritus at Soonchunhyang University, told The Korea Times that a new agency could require legislation and political agreement.