Soft Power in Northeast Asia, Using AI in Information Warfare
Authors:   J-INSTITUTE, Jo Sunggu 
Published: September 2023

Purpose: Conflicts between Korea, the United States, Japan, North Korea, China, and Russia continue along with the competition for supremacy between the United States and China, and conflicts between South and North Korea and between China and Taiwan continue as the Korean Peninsula is an area with a high possibility of military conflict. However, even in North Korea, China, and Russia, which are closed countries, the influence of the soft power of cultural content such as dramas through the Internet is bringing about changes in collective sentiment even in closed countries. Due to these phenomena, Northeast Asia, which has been confronted with military power, is facing a new phase, and we wanted to discuss the use of AI technology in information warfare by the soft power of the Intelligence Agency.
Method: For the expansion of AI use and research on information warfare, the historical cases of Northeast Asia were analyzed, and the evolution of literature and media was reviewed to understand the phenomenon of artificial intelligence (AI) after the 4th industrial revolution, and the themes were selected. In addition, related data were collected and reviewed, and an attempt was made to theoretically establish the research results academically.
Results: 1. Northeast Asia is undergoing a transition from order based on hard power through military power to soft power based on cultural content. Just as the spread of culture has expanded faster and deeper the more it is controlled by the state, many researchers in Northeast Asia sympathize with the collapse of the system when asked how long such surveillance and control by dictatorships such as China and North Korea will be possible. According to this phenomenon, the influence of the power of culture on society was analyzed. 2. Artificial intelligence (AI) learning information will adversely affect sound soft power due to manipulated information and biased algorithm learning data. Due to this loophole, the Intelligence Agency will launch an information war using artificial intelligence (AI) technology that suits its own interests. In addition, the Internet will accelerate the propagation speed of distorted soft power and penetrate deeply into human life. Therefore, the Intelligence Agency is expected to analyze the influence of this distorted soft power on its country and start blocking and defending against attacks.
Conclusion: 1. The legal system before the advent of AI is expected to be modified or supplemented by more than 50% after the advent of AI. In accordance with this paradigm shift, the authority of the Intelligence Agency in the information warfare of AI was divided into the right to investigate, the right to investigate, and the right to operate. 2. In response to the threat of using artificial intelligence (AI) in information warfare, the government of the country not only expanded the size of the Intelligence Agency but also proposed a hybrid structure of cooperation with the private sector, that is, a model of ‘hybrid defense’. Lastly, in 1983, when tensions between the US and the Soviet Union were in the Cold War, the state-of-the-art scientific equipment, a satellite for detecting nuclear missiles, recognized the US ICBM launch warning. In response, Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Petrov, commander of the Watch Command of the Soviet Air Defense Force, determined through human intuition that this was a computer error. It reexamined the case of preventing World War III by judging computer errors through human intuition, not judgment of scientific equipment, and suggested ethical issues in information warfare.