US cyber commander visits south Korea to discuss response to DPRK threats

The chief of the U.S. Cyber Command visited South Korea Monday to discuss ways on how to tackle possible cyber threats from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Seoul's Defense Ministry said Tuesday. Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok told a routine press briefing that U.S. Army Gen. Keith Alexander, who is slated to resign in March as the cyber commander and the National Security Agency (NSA) director, met with South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin. During the closed-door meeting, Alexander and Kim discussed how the two allies can make joint response to the DPRK's cyber threats, while the outgoing commander talked about his experiences while in office, the spokesman said. Before his one-day trip to Seoul, the four-star general visited Japan to pay a courtesy call to major allies before his resignation. Alexander announced his plan to retire last year after Edward Snowden disclosed classified documents showing that the NSA eavesdropped on 38 embassies in the United States, including the South Korean mission. According to local newspaper Kukmin Daily, Alexander also talked about the NSA's reform plan during his meeting with Kim, saying that presidents of close allies, including South Korean President Park Geun-hye, will be excluded from the wiretapping list of the NSA. Spokesman Kim denied the report, saying that Alexander did not mention the reform plan during the talks.