Research work · 2026

Hypersecuritisation and Norm-Grafting in Middle-Power Cybersecurity: The Strategic Evolution of South Korea

Applied Cybersecurity & Internet Governance

Abstract

Since the 2010s, South Korea’s cybersecurity strategy has undergone a pronounced shift towards a proactive orientation propelled by interrelated pathways. First, via hypersecuritisation, the country has cultivated a threat-centric discourse that heighten societal sensitivity to cyber risks and its narratives. Second, through norm-grafting, it has aligned with international cybersecurity norms to legitimise strategic repositioning. This article advances a focussed analytical framework integrating political–discursive dynamics with standing-seeking norm politics to explain and assess the evolution of national cybersecurity strategies, addressing gaps in the existing scholarship that has often remained descriptive and under-theorised regarding the mechanisms of strategic change. Empirically, viewed through a power lens, South Korea conjoins alliance-anchored deterrence with middle-power diplomacy – leveraging regional fora and capacity-building platforms to translate cyber capabilities into political influence and legitimating authority. Transformations hedge against skepticism as well as institutional resistance domestically and internationally, reflecting a realist convergence of security conceptions on the Korean Peninsula. Over time, Seoul’s posture has approached the threshold of its long-standing prudent principle, signalling a move from a predominantly defensive orientation to a more proactive, agentic, and assertive rationale of strategic practice. Nevertheless, given persistent external threats, operational controversies, and structural limitations of cybersecurity capabilities, South Korea continues to rely on the synergy of hypersecuritisation and norm-grafting. This configuration constitutes the pillar of contemporary policy and is poised to shape the architecture and trajectory of its cybersecurity strategy in the foreseeable future.

DOI: 10.60097/acig/219971