National Security Adviser Shin Won-sik announces the National Cybersecurity Basic Plan during a briefing at the presidential office in Seoul, Sept. 1. Yonhap

Korea will conduct offensive cyberdefense operations to protect critical national infrastructure from hacking attacks and counter disinformation, the presidential office said Sunday.

The National Security Council (NSC) unveiled the National Cybersecurity Basic Plan jointly drawn up with 14 government agencies, including the spy agency, police as well as ministries of foreign affairs, national defense and science and ICT, following the announcement of the cybersecurity strategy in February.

"We will secure deterrence against cyber activities and threat actors that undermine national security and interests through proactive and active defense measures," NSC adviser Shin Won-sik said in a briefing.

"We will establish a foundation for responding to disinformation that divides public opinion and causes social unrest in cyberspace," he added.

To achieve the goal, Korea will work together with countries "sharing liberal democratic values" to cooperate and coordinate cybersecurity responses and join international efforts to build norms to create a safe and peaceful cyber domain, Shin said.

The plan also outlines measures to enhance cyber resilience of the critical infrastructure and major communication systems, including applying artificial intelligence and separation of national and public networks from the internet and other less sensitive networks to build a "multi-layered security" system.

South Korea has sought to beef up its cybersecurity amid concerns over North Korea's alleged cryptocurrency theft to fund its nuclear and missile programs and hacking of local defense contractors to steal military technology essential for major weapons systems. (Yonhap)