KISIA's Application to Join Naver Cloud's Cybersecurity AI Project Sees No Progress for Over 40 Days
KISIA’s Bid to Join Naver Cloud AI Security Project Stalls
The Korea Information Security Industry Association (KISIA) publicly proposed in September to join the cybersecurity-specific AI foundation model project led by Naver Cloud, but for more than 40 days it has not held a single formal meeting with the Naver Cloud alliance, and some within the association believe this amounts to a rejection. Naver Cloud says it is still discussing ways to cooperate, the list of the alliance's 33 participating organizations remains unchanged, and newly added companies are only collaborating with existing members rather than formally joining. The project began development in September and plans to hold a model demonstration in December.
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Naver Cloud CEO Kim Yu-won delivers a keynote speech at Cyber Summit Korea 2026 at COEX in Seoul on Sept. 17. The photo is unrelated to the article. (Photo: THE ELEC archives)
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A cooperation proposal made publicly by the Korea Information Security Industry Association (KISIA) in September for the Cybersecurity-Specialized AI Foundation Model Development Project has made no progress for more than 40 days, THE ELEC has learned.
The Naver Cloud consortium, which is carrying out the project, continues to say it is reviewing the proposal but has yet to hold a single formal meeting with KISIA. As a result, some within the association increasingly view the lack of progress as a de facto rejection.
KISIA competed against Naver Cloud as part of a separate consortium in the bidding process to select an operator for the cybersecurity-specialized AI foundation model project but was unsuccessful. Nevertheless, the association held a press conference in September and publicly proposed cooperation with Naver, saying it would seek ways to join the Naver Cloud consortium. Its rationale was that incorporating cybersecurity domain knowledge from its 340 member companies into the specialized model would improve competitiveness.
Such a proposal from a losing bidder was highly unusual. However, Naver said at the time that further discussions could take place through a memorandum of understanding (MOU) or letter of intent (LOI), raising expectations that cooperation might materialize.
However, KISIA Chairman Kim Jin-soo told THE ELEC by phone, “We conveyed our intention to join Naver Cloud in September, but we have not received any further contact since then.”
Kim conveyed his willingness to cooperate directly to Naver Cloud CEO Kim Yu-won at Cyber Summit Korea (CSK) 2026, held at COEX in Seoul on Sept. 17, three days after the press conference at which KISIA proposed the partnership. He also met the executive overseeing the project that day and expressed the same intention.
According to Kim, Naver Cloud took a cautious stance, saying it understood KISIA’s objectives but would need the consent of existing consortium members.
“Since this is a nationally competitive project, the selected consortium will ultimately make the decision,” Kim said. “We have made sufficient overtures, and I think there may be particular circumstances behind the lack of feedback so far.”
However, development of the cybersecurity-specialized AI foundation model began in September, with a model demonstration scheduled for December. Given how far the project has progressed, some observers believe KISIA’s proposal has effectively been rejected.
Naver Cloud denied that cooperation had fallen through, saying, “We are still discussing ways to cooperate,” and adding that some KISIA member companies had joined the project after the consortium was finalized.
However, the Naver Cloud consortium still has 33 participating companies and institutions, unchanged from its original membership. Although Naver Cloud said additional companies had joined, it clarified that they were cooperating with existing participants rather than formally joining the consortium. In effect, they serve as supporting partners rather than official consortium members.
“Even after the December demonstration, we may flexibly add participating organizations to supplement expertise in areas where it is needed, but this requires the consent of existing members,” a Naver Cloud official said.
The Naver Cloud consortium includes South Korean cybersecurity companies Logpresso, MarkAny, SANDS Lab, Sparrow, S2W, AI Spera, WINS Technet, ESTsecurity, JiranSecurity, Theori, PNP Secure and Hunesion. All of these companies except Theori are KISIA members.