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Boost our cybersecurity against North Korea

Published: 12 Aug. 2024, 20:33

It has been affirmed that North Korea hacked South Korea’s materials of cross-border surveillance through two types of reconnaissance aircraft — Kumgang and Baekdu. Our military has been flying Kumgang reconnaissance planes with advanced video equipment along the border to keep watch on North Korean military activities. Baeku jets are responsible for keeping tabs on wireless communications across North Korea. South Korea’s strengthened signal and communication intelligence-gathering capacity due to the government’s heavy investment allows the military to carry out independent surveillance on North Korea instead of entirely relying on U.S. reconnaissance. It is preposterous that such hard-earned military information ironically ended up in the hands of North Korea.

But our military authorities appear to take the affair lightly. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) admitted that its outsourced company had been hacked by the North Korean military. The military confirmed that information on the repair and maintenance of the reconnaissance aircraft had been leaked but couldn’t tell whether key technology-related files were stolen. We hope DAPA’s claims are true, but we wonder if North Koreans really went through the trouble of stealing the information if it’s not significant. The military must first reflect on why such confidential intelligence files were hacked by the North.

Military intelligence has lately been a locus of concern. A civilian worker, a Korean Chinese in the military, was caught handing over sensitive information on military undercover agents operating overseas to the Chinese authority. The Defense Intelligence Command is embroiled in an internal feud between the two-star commander and a brigadier general. The tit-for-tat exposure disclosed spy liaison locations in Seoul and the secret codes to covert operations. Researchers are under prosecutorial questioning for allegedly selling secret files on the next-generation fighter KF-21 development program to Indonesia while others are being investigated for leaking key technology about homegrown K-2 Black Panther tanks.

Future warfare depends on intelligence gathering abilities. According to Recorded Future, a U.S.-based cybersecurity company, North Korea has stolen an estimated $3 billion worth of cryptocurrency through hacking over the past six years. North Korea also has carried out 9.8 billion cyberattacks since 2022 to steal information and earn money to advance its nuclear weapons programs. The primary target is South Korea. Given a chain of stumbles on the critical intelligence front, we cannot win against North Korea in cyber warfare. The discipline in intelligence power must be immediately restored and remedy actions must be taken to strengthen our porous intelligence front.