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| North Korea Threatens U.S. Military Bases in the Pacific | North Korea Threatens U.S. Military Bases in the Pacific |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| SEOUL — North Korea on Thursday threatened to attack American military bases in Japan and on the Pacific island of Guam in retaliation for training missions by American B-52 bombers over the Korean Peninsula, while state radio blared air-raid warnings to the North Korean people. | |
| Until the 1990s, air-raid drills had been a popular tool for the North Korean regime to highlight the perceived threat of an American invasion and to instill in its people a sense of crisis and solidarity. The one-hour air-raid drill on Thursday came amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula after the North’s nuclear test on Feb. 12 and the subsequent United Nations sanctions against the North. | |
| Nuclear-capable B-52 bombers, taking off from Guam, had previously flown missions over South Korea as part of joint military exercises. But this month, the Pentagon took the rare action of publicly announcing those missions to reaffirm the United States’ “nuclear umbrella” for South Korea and Japan at a time of rising anxiety over the North’s nuclear threats. South Korean news media also carried photos of an American nuclear-powered attack submarine making a port call at a South Korean naval base. | |
| “The U.S. should not forget that the Anderson Air Force Base on Guam, where B-52s take off, and naval bases in Japan proper and Okinawa, where nuclear-powered submarines are launched, are within the striking range of the DPRK’s precision strike means,” a spokesman of the Supreme Command of the North Korean People’s Army told the state-run Korean Central News Agency on Thursday. | “The U.S. should not forget that the Anderson Air Force Base on Guam, where B-52s take off, and naval bases in Japan proper and Okinawa, where nuclear-powered submarines are launched, are within the striking range of the DPRK’s precision strike means,” a spokesman of the Supreme Command of the North Korean People’s Army told the state-run Korean Central News Agency on Thursday. |
| He added, without elaborating, “Now that the U.S. started open nuclear blackmail and threat, the DPRK, too, will move to take corresponding military actions.” | He added, without elaborating, “Now that the U.S. started open nuclear blackmail and threat, the DPRK, too, will move to take corresponding military actions.” |
| DPRK stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the North’s official name. | DPRK stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the North’s official name. |
| Japan and American Pacific bases are within range of North Korea’s medium-range missiles, according to South Korean defense officials. | |
| Separately, North Korea said on Thursday that it would convene its Supreme People’s Assembly on April 1. The rubber-stamp Parliament, which usually meets once a year, endorses government budgets, policies and personnel reshuffles ordered by the top leader, Kim Jong-un. | Separately, North Korea said on Thursday that it would convene its Supreme People’s Assembly on April 1. The rubber-stamp Parliament, which usually meets once a year, endorses government budgets, policies and personnel reshuffles ordered by the top leader, Kim Jong-un. |
| One of the two joint American and South Korean military exercises that have infuriated North Korea ended on Thursday. But Seoul and Washington remained alert over the possibility that the North might follow up on some of its vaguely worded threats to attack the allies. | |
| Such fears increased on Wednesday, when a hacking attack originating from an Internet address in China caused a widespread shutdown, paralyzing about 32,000 computers at South Korea’s two largest public broadcasters, an all-news cable channel and three banks. | |
| The South’s Korea Communications Commission said on Thursday that a “single organization” was behind the spread of the malicious code. The virus infiltrated the networks through company servers that send automatic updates of security and other software. | The South’s Korea Communications Commission said on Thursday that a “single organization” was behind the spread of the malicious code. The virus infiltrated the networks through company servers that send automatic updates of security and other software. |
| While South Korean regulators said it was still too early to assign blame, suspicion fell on North Korea, which recently threatened the South and the United States with attacks. South Korea has previously accused North Korean hackers of using Chinese addresses to launch their attacks. | |
| “With a strong suspicion over possible North Korean involvement, we are pursuing all possibilities,” a senior aide to President Park Geun-hye told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity. | |
| South Korea’s National Intelligence Service suspects North Korean involvement in at least 6 of 73,000 hacking attacks in South Korea since 2008, said an opposition lawmaker, Jung Cheong-rae, citing agency’s data provided at his request. The spy agency pointed the finger at North Korea in hacking attacks that disrupted South Korean government Web sites in 2009 and 2011, he said. | South Korea’s National Intelligence Service suspects North Korean involvement in at least 6 of 73,000 hacking attacks in South Korea since 2008, said an opposition lawmaker, Jung Cheong-rae, citing agency’s data provided at his request. The spy agency pointed the finger at North Korea in hacking attacks that disrupted South Korean government Web sites in 2009 and 2011, he said. |
| “Throughout the world, states that build means of cyberwarfare and engage in it are precisely the same countries that develop nuclear weapons,” a Defense Ministry spokesman, Kim Min-seok, said on Thursday, referring to the North’s nuclear programs. | “Throughout the world, states that build means of cyberwarfare and engage in it are precisely the same countries that develop nuclear weapons,” a Defense Ministry spokesman, Kim Min-seok, said on Thursday, referring to the North’s nuclear programs. |
| The hacking attack on Wednesday brought down the servers of the South Korean broadcasters KBS and MBC and the cable channel YTN, as well as three commercial banks: Shinhan, NongHyup and Jeju. The coordinated attack shut down many cash machines across the country and left some people unable to use their debit or credit cards. | |
| The banks reported normal operations on Thursday, except for some A.T.M.'s that needed repairs. The television stations broadcast normally but said many of their internal computers were still shut down. | |
| The attack did not affect government agencies or transportation systems, and the banks said after preliminary investigations that their customers’ records had not been compromised. | The attack did not affect government agencies or transportation systems, and the banks said after preliminary investigations that their customers’ records had not been compromised. |
| Still, the disruptions raised a sense of vulnerability in South Korea, which has been proud of its broadband and mobile Internet access. | Still, the disruptions raised a sense of vulnerability in South Korea, which has been proud of its broadband and mobile Internet access. |