Korea becomes one of first countries to gain access to OpenAI’s cybersecurity-focused AI model OpenAI Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon speaks during a press conference in Seoul on Wednesday. (OpenAI Korea) OpenAI said Wednesday it is launching a cyber action plan for South Korea to help government agencies, public institutions and companies strengthen defenses against AI-driven cyber threats, with the country set to gain access to its security-focused model GPT-5.5-Cyber.“We want OpenAI to become a trusted partner to Korea,” OpenAI Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon said during a press briefing in Seoul.“Our goal is not to keep advanced cyber capabilities in the hands of a small number of organizations,” Kwon said. “We want trusted defenders responsible for protecting systems, companies and institutions to gain access to these tools faster than bad actors.”The access will come through Governmental Trusted Access for Cyber, a program that provides selected government agencies and public institutions with access to OpenAI’s latest cybersecurity-focused AI models.South Korea is the third country to join the initiative after the US and Canada, and among the first in Asia alongside Japan. OpenAI said it is also discussing participation with European Union member states.At the briefing, the company also unveiled its broader Korea Cyber Action Plan, which will extend support beyond government agencies to private-sector companies.Kwon cited Korea’s semiconductor industry, engineering talent, advanced digital infrastructure and rapid adoption of AI services as key reasons behind OpenAI’s focus on the market.He added that Korea ranks among OpenAI’s top 10 markets globally in weekly ChatGPT users, enterprise customers and paid subscribers.OpenAI has expanded cooperation with Korean authorities in recent months. The company signed a memorandum of understanding with Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT in October and earlier in May held an AI security workshop with Korean security, financial and diplomatic agencies.On Tuesday, OpenAI met with Second Vice Science Minister Ryu Je-myung to discuss AI security threats, safety and trust.The announcement comes as major AI developers race to adapt their models for cybersecurity applications.Rival Anthropic launched its cybersecurity-focused model Claude Mythos in April, while OpenAI later introduced GPT-5.4-Cyber and previewed GPT-5.5-Cyber to selected partners in early May.Kwon contrasted OpenAI’s approach with Anthropic’s Project Glassing, which provides selective access to Claude Mythos.“Unlike Anthropic, our approach is more broadly available because we have the compute capacity to support it,” Kwon said.“We want trusted defenders to identify vulnerabilities and secure systems before these capabilities become more widespread.”