The Korea Herald

지나쌤

N. Korea denies involvement in cyberattack on S.Korean military

By 임정요

Published : Dec. 9, 2016 - 11:24

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North Korea on Friday denied its involvement in a hacking attack against South Korea's military, saying Seoul is pulling off "a childish plot" to divert public attention from its political crisis.

South Korea accused North Korea this week of being behind the first-ever infiltration of the intranet of its cyberwarfare command in August, noting that the Internet Protocol address linked to the attack was traced to a location in China which was previously used by North Korean hackers.

North Korea's main propaganda website, Uriminzokkiri, rebuffed the claim, saying hackers never make the mistake of exposing their IP addresses or methods, which could risk revealing their identities.

"If we are behind the hacking, why do we use the IP address that the South takes issue with," Uriminzokkiri said in a report.

"This a total nonsense."

It claimed South Korea is trying to provoke confrontation with the North in a desperate attempt to survive the current political conundrum.

The National Assembly is set to vote on an impeachment motion against President Park Geun-hye over a corruption scandal on Friday afternoon.

North Korea is known to have thousands of cyberwarfare personnel. It has a track record of waging cyberattacks on South Korea and the US in recent years, though it has denied involvement. (Yonhap)