Lee Jun-il, director general for Korean Peninsula policy at Seoul's foreign ministry, center, speaks at the Ministry of Foregin Affairs headquarters in Jongno District, Seoul, June 28, 2023. Newsis

South Korean and U.S. diplomats highlighted close cooperation in preventing North Korea from generating revenue through malicious cyber activities during their talks on cybersecurity Thursday, the State Department said.

Lee Jun-il, director general for Korean Peninsula policy at Seoul's foreign ministry, and U.S. Deputy Special Representative for North Korea Seth Bailey led the seventh meeting of the South Korea-U.S. working group dedicated to countering North Korea's cyberthreats.

"The meeting underscored the continued close collaboration between the U.S. and ROK governments to disrupt the DPRK's ability to generate revenue through malicious cyber activity, which it uses to fund its unlawful WMD and ballistic missile programs," the department said in a media note.

ROK stands for South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea. WMD is short for weapons of mass destruction.

The department also stressed that Seoul and Washington are pursuing a "wide" range of actions to prevent and disrupt North Korea's cryptocurrency heists, address its cyber espionage against the defense sector, stop third-party facilitators from enabling the North's illicit revenue generation, and dismantle North Korean IT worker infrastructure and networks.

"The Working Group meeting also focused on coordinated diplomatic outreach, information sharing and capacity building for nations vulnerable to the DPRK cyberthreat," it said.

The meeting, which ends Friday, included participants from 15 U.S. and South Korean government departments, ministries and agencies, according to the department. (Yonhap)