The "2026 Chungcheong Cybersecurity Conference" successfully concluded its grand schedule on September 22 at the Daejeon Convention Center (DCC), establishing a vital platform for regional cooperation and advanced security technology sharing to combat rapidly evolving cyber threats in the AI era. 

Held under the theme "Coexistence, Cooperation, and Regional Development in the Cyber World, Centered on AI Security and Resilience," the event was co-hosted by the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI) and the National Intelligence Service (NIS). It was organized by KISTI and the Chungcheong Branch of the Korea Institute of Information Security and Cryptology (KIISC). Key regional governing bodies and national infrastructure pillars—including Daejeon Metropolitan City, Sejong Special Self-Governing City, South and North Chungcheong Provinces, Kanyang University, KAIST, K-water, the Korea National Railway, and various power generation companies—provided extensive sponsorships to reinforce a unified security posture. 

During the opening ceremony, KISTI President Lee Sik emphasized the critical need for dual-faceted defense mechanisms. He noted that as hyper-connectivity and rapid AI advancements accelerate security vulnerabilities, true cyber security requires not only proactive defense against unprecedented threats but also immediate recovery capabilities to bounce back from unforeseen crises. Following this, Kanyang University President Kim Yong-ha stressed the importance of fostering professional security talent who can anticipate risks beforehand rather than merely reacting after incidents occur. Hwang Su-hoon, President of the National Security Research Institute (NSR), underscored that the Chungcheong region houses critical national infrastructure—spanning national defense, water resources, rail transit, and energy power generation—making collaborative regional frameworks and secured cyber resilience absolute imperatives that no single institution can shoulder alone.

The conference's keynotes delivered visionary insights tailored to the AI transition. Yun Kuk-jin, Dean of the KAIST AI Graduate School and Head of the KAIST AI Research Institute, presented on "National AI Development Strategies in the Era of AI Transformation," while Kim Myung-joo, Director of the AI Safety Institute, lectured on "AI Safety Strategies—Building a Sustainable AI Safety Ecosystem".

Furthermore, the event featured the awards ceremony for the "Chungcheong Region University (Graduate) Student Cyber Threat Scenario Contest," designed to bridge academic research with operational security practices and accelerate next-generation defense systems. Expert lectures—such as Professor Yoon In-soo of KAIST speaking on "Cybersecurity Before the Singularity: How Should We Respond?"—alongside practical institutional case presentations (such as K-water's deployment of generative AI within business networks and the National Information Resources Service's introduction of public-private cooperative cloud services) provided attendees with deep, actionable insights. Combined with an information security academic paper presentation session by the KIISC Chungcheong branch and a regional cybersecurity quiz competition, the conference firmly solidified its role as a comprehensive hub for regional talent incubation, technological innovation, and academic exchange.

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