South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT said on Thursday it developed cybersecurity manuals tailored to smart ships, space and robots with the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) and will distribute them.

In the shipping sector, it newly developed a security model for autonomous ships based on the International Maritime Organization (IMO) standard for autonomous operation grade 3. It also prepared a shipping company-tailored security guideline, described as the country's first practical standard, with participation from HMM Ocean Service, SK Shipping and Hyundai LNG Shipping. Security training materials for seafarers and eight onboard security rules for ships were also produced.

In the space sector, it released a security model and explanatory guide reflecting the latest operating environment, including cloud-based ground station as a service (GSaaS). It included supply chain security measures across the full lifecycle from satellite design and development to dismantling, and presented a 53-item checklist.

In the robotics sector, it consisted of countermeasures for security threats by type, including industrial, service and medical robots, along with a checklist and explanatory guide. It upgraded the model to match the level of global security regulations such as the European CRA and IEC 62443.

Lim Jeong-gyu (임정규), director general for information protection and network policy at the ministry, said cybersecurity is now a necessity, not an option, in key future industries such as ships, space and robots. He said he hopes the manuals will reduce companies' burden of embedding security and serve as a practical guide for responding to global markets.