South Korea, U.S. sign agreement to defend against North Korea

The United States and South Korea have signed an official military plan to defend against a potential attack from North Korea.

The latest agreement will allow South Korea to call on the U.S. for assistance, should North Korea go through with any of its recent threats against its neighbouring nation, reports BBC News. “This allows both nations to jointly respond to the North’s local provocations, with the South taking the lead and the U.S. in support,” South Korean defence ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said.

Further details of the plan were not released, reports The Associated Press.

The news comes amid another report from The Associated Press that says South Korea is training teams of “cyber warriors” to thwart hacker attacks. This is after a malware attack on the country last week, which shut down television networks and banks. Though some initially pointed the finger at North Korea, the exact source of last week’s attack remains under investigation. However, South Korea has blamed North Korea for six other cyber attacks since 2009.

Tensions between North Korea and the rest of the world have been mounting since the country carried out a third illegal nuclear test in February, leading the United Nations to place further sanctions on North Korea.