South Korea

Korea Herald | English | News | Dec. 12, 2025 | Shifting Geopolitical Alliances

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi are planning a summit in mid-January in Nara, Japan. The talks are expected to take place around January 13-14, with the historic Todaiji Temple in Nara considered a possible venue. Nara Prefecture is Takaichi's home region.

This summit would be Lee's second visit to Japan during his tenure, following a trip to Tokyo in August where he met with Takaichi's predecessor. The leaders aim to maintain positive momentum in bilateral relations through ongoing "shuttle diplomacy," involving reciprocal visits.

Despite efforts to promote future-oriented cooperation, tensions persist due to territorial disputes. Lee's office recently reaffirmed South Korea's sovereignty over the Dokdo islets, rejecting Takaichi's renewed territorial claims. The summit will continue to address both cooperation and historical and territorial issues between the two nations.

금융보안원 "연이은 해킹, 디지털 혁신만큼 AI·제로트러스트 중요"

Digital Daily | Local Language | News | Dec. 12, 2025 | Cyber Attacks and Data Loss

Park Sang-won, president of the Financial Security Institute, emphasized the critical need to strengthen AI technology frameworks and implement zero-trust security strategies to prevent large-scale security incidents in the financial sector. Speaking at the "Financial IT Innovation" event in Seoul on December 11, 2025, he asserted that the importance of security has grown to equal that of digital innovation, urging financial companies to continuously develop new security systems.

Financial authorities are shifting from rule-based regulations to principle-centered security frameworks, encouraging firms to build autonomous security environments. Park highlighted that with the government's move to relax network separation regulations, financial companies should focus on constructing updated security frameworks beyond traditional network separation.

AI is highlighted as a vital strategy to address evolving security challenges. The Financial Security Institute is supporting financial companies by providing AI security assessments and performance verification metrics. Park also noted ongoing preparations of unique AI guidelines for the financial sector in collaboration with financial authorities, driven by the AI Innovation Act.

Zero trust, which assumes threats arise both externally and internally, was underscored as essential following recent hacking incidents. The Institute is working with financial companies through consultative bodies to implement zero trust and is exploring models for export and overseas trends.

Park forecasted that as AI integration advances in financial services, leading to complex interconnections and innovation, security will become increasingly crucial. He described this shift as moving beyond digitalization toward AI-based reconfiguration, necessitating stronger security measures.

"내년 매출에 직격", IT총판들 긴장 이유는?…HPE·아루바·주니퍼, 단일 총판 체계 변경

Digital Daily | Local Language | News | Dec. 12, 2025 | Supply Chain Issues

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) plans to consolidate its domestic distribution network for Aruba, Juniper Networks, and HPE servers into a single integrated distributor system starting early next year. Presently, these product lines are managed by separate distributors, but HPE aims to reduce over ten distributors down to approximately 2–4 companies. The process involves a Request for Information (RFI) beginning in January 2026, with final distributor selections expected by April 2026.

This integration is driven by HPE’s global policy to limit the number of distributors per region and reflects the strategic alignment of its expanded network portfolio following acquisitions of Aruba and Juniper. By combining wireless networking strengths from Aruba and wired/data center capabilities of Juniper, HPE intends to offer unified proposals and support for AI-based network operations and edge-cloud environments. The restructuring is expected to significantly impact the distributor ecosystem, intensifying competition as distributors with varying portfolios vie for inclusion.

Industry groups like ITCEN and SNet, which currently handle multiple product lines, are viewed as having an advantage due to their broad portfolios, as HPE is likely to consider past performance and product experience in its evaluations. While the primary focus is on an integrated distribution framework, there is some indication that certain single-product-line distributors might be allowed to continue under exceptional circumstances, aligning with the broader network portfolio reorganization emphasizing AI-driven network competitiveness.