Seoul says N. Korea hacked into S. Korean officials’ phones
South Korea announces unilateral sanctions on North Korea
(35 minutes later)
SEOUL, South Korea — Seoul’s spy agency on Tuesday accused North Korea of having hacked into the smartphones of dozens of key South Korean officials, stealing text and voice messages and their phone call logs.
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea says it will sanction 40 individuals and 30 organizations aboard, mostly in North Korea, as part of its unilateral punitive measures the North for its recent nuclear test and rocket launch.
The announcement came a day after North Korea warned of pre-emptive nuclear strikes in response to the start of Seoul-Washington military drills it views as an invasion rehearsal. This year’s drills are the largest ever, meant to respond to the North’s recent nuclear test and long-range rocket launch.
Tuesday’s announcement came a day after North Korea warned of pre-emptive nuclear strikes in response to the start of annual South Korean-U.S. military drills. Pyongyang views the drills as an invasion rehearsal.
The National Intelligence Service said in a statement that the cyberattacks were made between late February and early March. It didn’t say which officials’ phones were hacked or whether the stolen text and voice messages contained any sensitive information.
The South Korean government also said in a statement that it will ban the entrance of any ship which has also stopped at a North Korean port in the previous 180 days. Currently only North Korean ships are banned.
The statement said North Korea also unsuccessfully tried to hack into email accounts of South Korean railway officials earlier this year in a preparation for cyberattack on the South’s railway transport control system.
It says the sanctions target 38 individuals and 24 organizations in North Korea, and two individuals and six organizations in third countries.
There was no immediate reaction from North Korea.
It says South Koreans will be barred from engaging in financial dealings with those blacklisted people and organizations.
Seoul has accused Pyongyang of launching a slew of cyberattacks in recent years. Pyongyang has denied the claims.
Many alleged North Korean cyberattacks failed to infiltrate computer systems of businesses and government agencies. But in several successful cases, also denied by North Korea, hackers destroyed hard drive disks, paralyzed banking systems or disrupted access to websites. One of these attacks was so crippling that a South Korean bank was unable to resume online banking services for more than two weeks.
In 2014, the United States accused North Korea of a cyberattack on Sony Pictures over a movie depicting the fictional assassination of the North’s leader, Kim Jong Un. North Korea has denied any involvement in the hacking.
Last year, South Korea said North Korea has a 6,000-member cyber army dedicated to disrupting the South’s military and government. The figure was a sharp increase from a 2013 South Korean estimate of 3,000 such specialists.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
