North Korea hackers reportedly stole US, South Korea war plans
US tightens North Korea's economic, diplomatic isolation
Meghan O'Sullivan, Harvard professor and former deputy national security adviser, gives the Trump administration high marks for increasing economic and diplomatic pressure on North Korea.
A plan to assassinate Kim Jong Un and preparations for a potential nuclear showdown with North Korea were among the trove of South Korean military documents reportedly stolen by Hermit Kingdom hackers.
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South Korea’s Defense Ministry did not comment on the alleged hack, which reportedly occurred in September 2016 but was only revealed Tuesday, but Rhee Cheol-hee, a lawmaker in South Korea, confirmed the data breach to the BBC. The hack consisted of 235 gigabytes of military documents and about 80 percent of what was stolen hasn’t been identified.
NORTH KOREA: WHAT WOULD A NUCLEAR ATTACK LOOK LIKE?
South Korea announced in May a “large amount of data” was stolen during a cyber attack that was possibly orchestrated by Kim Jong Un’s rogue regime. That same month, Yapizon, a South Korean cryptocurrency exchange, announced 3,816 bitcoins — online currency that amounts to about $5.3 million — was taken on April 22. The company did not disclose who it believed to be the culprit, but security firm FireEye noted North Korean hackers were also suspected of targeting online currency providers.
North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un makes a statement regarding U.S. President Donald Trump's speech at the U.N. general assembly, in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang September 22, 2017. KCNA via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THIS IMAGE. NO THIRD PARTY SALES. SOUTH KOREA OUT. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RC1A8D600950
Kim Jong Un's regime is suspected of hacking South Korean military documents. (Reuters)
North Korea denied stealing the documents, the BBC reported. The country celebrated the anniversary of the establishment of the Worker’s Party Tuesday and Pyongyang’s first nuclear bomb test on Monday.
Pyongyang is suspected of having expert hackers attack South Korean government websites and facilities for years. North Korea has accused its neighbor of “fabricating” the claims, the BBC reported.
News of the hack comes amid increasing tensions in the region.
FILE - In this June 13, 2017 file photo, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis listens on Capitol Hill in Washington. Mattis is issuing his own sharp threat to North Korea, saying the regime should cease any consideration of actions that would "lead to the end of its regime and the destruction of its people." (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said the U.S. has "military options" for dealing with North Korea. (AP)
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Monday said the U.S. has “military options that [President Trump] can employ if needed.”
"There's one thing the U.S. Army can do, and that is you have got to be ready to ensure that we have military options that our President can employ if needed," Mattis said during an Army conference in Washington, D.C. "We currently are in a diplomatically led effort.”
KIM JONG UN’S NORTH KOREA: BRINGING THE WORLD TO THE BRINK
Trump, meanwhile, has continued his attacks against “little rocket man” Kim Jong Un and his regime, with the president taking to Twitter early Monday to say more than two decades of U.S. policy toward North Korea “didn’t work.”
“Our country has been unsuccessfully dealing with North Korea for 25 years, giving billions of dollars & getting nothing. Policy didn’t work!” Trump wrote.
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Our country has been unsuccessfully dealing with North Korea for 25 years, giving billions of dollars & getting nothing. Policy didn't work!
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TRUMP ON NORTH KOREA, FROM 'ROCKET MAN' TO 'FIRE AND FURY'
The weekend tweets came after the president’s Thursday meeting with senior military leaders and their spouses, where he cryptically told reporters “this might be the calm before the storm.” When asked to elaborate on Friday, Trump said, “You’ll find out.”
U.S. President Donald Trump participates in a briefing with senior military leaders at the White House in Washington, U.S., October 5, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas - RC19203CA580
President Trump in a briefing with senior military leaders at the White House on Thursday. (Reuters)
North Korean state media announced on Sunday Kim Jong Un promoted his sister, Kim Yo Jong, to become an alternate member of the country’s top decision-making body, the politiburo. The decision came the same weekend Kim declared his country’s nuclear weapons a “powerful deterrent firmly safeguarding the peace and security in the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia” against “protracted nuclear threats of the U.S. imperialists
