Korea is part of the top Tier 1 of the Global Cybersecurity Index with a perfect score of 100 as announced by the Switzerland-based International Telecommunication Union. Shown is a scene from Cyber Summit Korea on Sept. 12 hosted by the National Intelligence Service and National Security Research Institute at COEX Mall of Seoul's Gangnam-gu District. (Yonhap News)

By Lee Dasom

Korea is among the world's best in the Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) with a perfect score.

The Ministry of Science and ICT on Sept. 13 announced that Korea was among 46 states out of 194 to make the top category Tier 1 of the GCI released the day before by the Switzerland-based International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

Among the countries in the category, 12 received a perfect score of 100 including Korea, the U.K., Denmark, Italy, Finland and the United Arab Emirates.

Korea also received outstanding evaluations in capacity development and cooperation, two of the index's five assessment pillars that also include legal, technical and organization.

The ministry said, "This is the result of all government departments led by the National Security Office to set a national cybersecurity strategy and raise the capability to actively respond to cyber threats."

Korea's reinforcement of its cybersecurity cooperation system with leading economies was also commended. In April last year, the country announced the U.S.-ROK (Republic of Korea) Strategic Cybersecurity Cooperation Framework at a bilateral summit with the U.S. and conclusion of a strategic cyber partnership with the U.K. later that November.

In the latest and fifth GCI, the ITU changed the evaluation method from a ranking to a grading system of five tiers. In the fourth index in 2021, Korea ranked fourth.

Minister of Science and ICT Yoo Sang-Im said, "Given the continuous rise of cyber threats in the international community, we pledge further efforts to build a safe digital environment."

dlektha0319@korea.kr