The Cabinet decided Tuesday to empower the chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff to control the operations of the cyber command as part of efforts to counter growing security threats online.

Currently, the cyber command tasked with countering threats in cyberspace is under the Ministry of National Defense, with its activities being regarded more as administrative measures rather than military operations.

At a weekly meeting, the Cabinet approved a revised decree on the cyber command, giving the JCS chairman the power to lead and control operations online under the orders of the defense chief.

The government will set up a new team under the JCS’ special staff department to carry out such duties as simulating joint operations.

“The revision means that the country has elevated cyber warfare into de facto military operations, factoring in the growing threats online,” said a defense ministry official, asking not to be named.

“As cyber operations cannot be separated from physical military operations on land, at sea and in air, it will be far more effective and desirable for the JCS commander to have the right to arrange and control the cyber activities,” he said.

The revision is in line with South Korea’s recent moves to be more proactive in cyber activities in the wake of growing threats.

The cyber command has recently decided to drop its long-held defensive tactics in cyber warfare and instead initiate proactive operations to better guard against enemies’ online infiltrations.

In the first nine months of 2014, the military suffered 1,202 hacking attempts, up 595 cases from a year earlier. Numbers for the last three months of the year have not been tallied yet. 

(Yonhap)