The Army signed an accord with Korea University on Tuesday to establish a department for nurturing cyber warfare specialists as South Korea strives to bolster its capabilities to deal with North Korean cyber attacks.

The ceremony to sign the agreement was attended by Army Chief of Staff Gen. Kim Sang-ki and Korea University President Kim Byung-chul.

It is the first time for the military to establish such a department at a private university.

“I am glad that we are now able to bring up the cyber warriors that we need in the military,” Gen. Kim said during the event.

President Kim responded by saying, “We are very happy that with the support from the Army, we can educate students who can contribute to strengthening our national security.”

The cyber defense department will belong to the Graduate School of Information Security at the university, and admit 30 undergraduates for the four-year course from this fall, officials said.

The students will receive a full scholarship for four years and join the armed forces after graduation to serve as commissioned officers, specializing in information and communications for seven years, they said.

The curriculum includes information technology, cryptography, cyber psychology and cyber warfare tactics.

The North has turned to cyber warfare as it is not equipped to defeat affluent South Korea and the U.S. with conventional, symmetrical war strategies.

The most recent cyber attack by the North came in April, paralyzing the banking system of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, or Nonghyup, for several weeks.

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)