In one college major at Seoul’s elite Korea University, the courses are known only by number, and students keep their identities a secret from outsiders.
The Cyber Defense curriculum, funded by the defense ministry, trains young keyboard warriors who get a free education in exchange for a seven-year commitment as officers in the army’s cyber warfare unit – and its ongoing conflict with North Korea.
North and South Korea remain in a technical state of war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armed truce. Besides Pyongyang’s nuclear and rocket programmes, South Korea says the North has a strong cyber army which it has blamed for a series of attacks in the past three years.
The cyber defence course at the university in Seoul was founded in 2011, with the first students enrolled the following year.
One 21-year-old student, who allowed himself to be identified only by his surname Noh, said he had long been interested in computing and cyber security and was urged by his father to join the programme. All South Korean males are required to serve in the military, usually for up to two years.
“(Seven years in the military) is not a time burden but I think it’s a part of a process to build my career,” Noh said.
“I am absolutely committed. Becoming a cyber warrior means devoting myself to serve my country,” he said in a war room packed with computers and wall-mounted flat screens at the school’s science library.
South Korea is one of the world’s most technologically advanced countries.
That makes its networks that control everything from electrical power grids to the banking system vulnerable against an enemy believed to have a large cyber warfare capability but relatively primitive infrastructure and thus few targets against which the South can retaliate.
“In relative terms, it looks unfavourable because our country has more places to defend, while North Korea barely uses or provides internet,” said Noh.
The cyber warfare programme, founded by the military to groom a breed of “creative cyber warriors”, selects a maximum of 30 students each year, almost all of them men. On top of free tuition, the school provides 500,000 won ($427) per month support for each student for living expenses.
The course trains pupils in disciplines including hacking, maths, security law and cryptography, with students staging mock hacking attacks or playing defense, using simulation programs donated by security firms.
Noh’s admission to the selective programme entailed three days of interviews including physical examinations, attended by military officials along with the school’s professors.
While North Korea’s cyber army outnumbers the South’s roughly 500-strong force, Korea University Professor Jeong Ik-rae said a small group of talented and well-trained cadets can be groomed to beat the enemy.
Jeong, an information security expert who has taught in the cyber defense program since 2011, said the school benchmarks itself on Israel’s elite Talpiot programme.
“It’s very important to have skills to respond when attacks happen – not only to defend,” Jeong said.
Last year South Korea estimated that the North’s “cyber army” had doubled in size over two years to 6,000 troops, and the South has been scrambling to ramp up its capability to meet what it considers to be a rising threat.
South Korea is in discussions to build what it calls a “reserve cyber-army.”
The national police has also been expanding its cyber-defense capabilities, while the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning in 2012 started a one-year programme to train so-called “white hat” – or ethical – computer hackers.
North Korea denied responsibility.
Last week, South Korean police said the North hacked into more than 140,000 computers at 160 South Korean companies and government agencies, planting malicious code under a long-term plan laying groundwork for a massive cyber attack against its rival.
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016