The Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Korea signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on e-Government with Belarus, an ICT leader in Eastern Europe.

As the Ministry of the Interior expands cooperation with Belarus, following the signing of MOU on e-Government with Kazakhstan last November, Korea's e-Government will actively make inroads into the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

The Korea-Belarus Cooperation Forum on e-Government was held on April 26 at the building of the Ministry of Communications and Informatization of Belarus in Minsk, the capital of Belarus.

The forum was attended by delegations from the two countries including Korean Vice Interior Minister Kim Seong-lyul and Belarusian Communications and Informatization Sergei Popkov. At the forum, the two ministries inked the MOU on e-Government regarding personal exchange, joint research and policy support, and experts from both countries held a heated discussion on key issues about digital government.

Participants gave presentations on various issues such as Korea's government innovation and best practices (MOI); the status of Government Information Data Center (GIDC) and national cyber security system; next-generation solutions to cyber threats with cutting-edge technologies such as AI and big data (National Computing and Information Service); e-archives management (National Archives); best practices of informatization in central and local governments (Korea Local Information Research & Development Institute); and narrowing a digital divide (National Information Society Agency).

While boasting advanced inter-departmental services, Belarus has not developed sufficient public services to businesses and citizens. So, the Belarusian delegation showed a great interest in Korea's government innovation and best practices. In addition, they asked a lot of questions regarding Korea's GIDB and next-generation cyber security since the country has been targeted for cyber attack by China and Russia since 2016.


The visit of the Korean delegation for e-Government cooperation was arranged upon continued request by Belarus. Bilateral cooperation on e-Government has been put forward mainly through academic exchange, but the two countries could grasp an opportunity to promote substantial with the signing of MOU.

The Ministry of the Interior keeps an eye on Belarus, together with Serbia, as a hub in the region to spread Korean e-Government model. It is expected that exports of Korean e-Government products and services to Belarus will be expanded in the future.

Vice Minister Kim Seong-lyul commented, "Cooperation with Belarus on e-Government will serve as a leap forward to diversify and broaden the export market of Korea's e-Government services by pioneering in Eastern Europe." "The Ministry will render a full support to share Korea's best practices on digital government and support Korean companies to bear fruits in the region," he added.