South Korea has decided to make it mandatory for major Internet service providers and data centers to report hacking incidents to the government beginning next month.

The new measure was agreed upon at a meeting of relevant government officials hosted by the Ministry of Information and Communication on Thursday.

The move comes on the heels of reports that suspected Chinese hackers broke into the computer systems of sensitive government institutions.

The government will bolster its capabilities to systematically collect related information and promptly detect attempted hackings. The ministry will also set up a toll-free hotline to a cyber hacking report center and a special task force exclusively in charge of countering computer hacking incidents.

The ministry will also work closely with other nations by facilitating information exchange with the Computer Emergency Response Team in Australia and implementing a joint monitoring system with Japan and China.