Disinformation as a Modern Weapon: South Korea and U.S. Hold First Joint Tabletop Exercise

As cognitive warfare—the use of disinformation to disrupt an adversary's decision-making and public sentiment—gains prominence in modern conflict, South Korea and the United States have recently conducted their first joint tabletop exercise to counter such threats.

According to South Korean and U.S. military authorities on July 12, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command, and the United Nations Command hosted the "ROK-U.S. Interagency Strategic Communication Tabletop Exercise" at the JCS headquarters in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on July 9.

The exercise, led by the JCS, involved numerous South Korean government agencies, including the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Korea Communications Commission, the National Intelligence Service, and the National Police Agency.

It is reported that each agency presented its respective role regarding communication strategies in contingencies and coordinated measures for effective response.

While meetings between relevant agencies to address wartime disinformation have been held in the past, this is known to be the first time that South Korean and U.S. military authorities and a wide range of government agencies have gathered for a tabletop exercise.

USFK stated in a press release that the exercise was held in recognition of the critical role the information environment plays in modern conflict, describing it as the "first comprehensive combined, interagency, and multinational exercise specifically focused on synchronizing operations within the information environment."

According to USFK, the tabletop exercise focused on three key areas: responding to foreign disinformation; synchronizing responses to multi-domain threats such as cyber, space, and electromagnetic spectrum; and aligning strategic communications.

The goal is to rapidly identify, counter, and neutralize disinformation campaigns by external forces, and further, to refute enemy narratives by implementing communication strategies aligned with friendly intentions through public affairs activities.

USFK added, "Participants successfully reviewed bilateral cooperation frameworks to institutionalize these coordination measures in future combined operations."

The move by South Korea and the U.S. is interpreted as a response to the changing battlefield environment, where cognitive warfare using non-physical means such as social media (SNS) is emerging as a critical factor.

Cognitive warfare refers to a method of conducting war that induces psychological instability or strategic errors by fostering false perceptions among an adversary's leadership or public.

In the Russia-Ukraine war, the dissemination of false content and public opinion manipulation were actively utilized as tools of war.

This exercise can be seen as a signal that South Korea and the U.S. are concretizing their response to such threats.

Military authorities are reportedly considering applying the content discussed during this exercise to more specific scenarios during the upcoming ROK-U.S. joint exercise, Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS), scheduled for next month.

(Photo: Courtesy of Yonhap News TV, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.