South Korean military secrets stolen by North Korea
The South Korean Ministry of Defense is almost 100% certain that North Korean hackers have obtained many secret military documents, but it is unclear whether the South Korean Navy's "trump card" has been exposed.
North Korea stole blueprints for several South Korean missile ships and submarines in a 2016 cyber attack on the world's largest shipbuilder, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering.
Revealing military secrets
This information was revealed by opposition party lawmaker Kyeong Dae-soo to the newspaper.Dong-A Ilboof Korea on October 30, according to the news siteBloomberg. Of the more than 40,000 documents stolen from Daewoo Shipbuilding in April 2016, 60 were classified as military secrets. These documents contained information on technology, drawings, weapon systems and capability assessments of several South Korean warships and submarines.
Speaking to reporters, Mr. Kyeong said he had received a brief report from the South Korean Ministry of Defense informing him of the leak of military secrets. Daewoo Shipbuilding has been under investigation for six months for cyber security breaches. Earlier in October, a South Korean lawmaker also revealed that North Korean hackers had stolen the US-South Korean joint military plans.
Notably, the stolen documents also included a top secret scenario of a “brain-destroying” operation targeting Mr. Kim Jong-un. According to the newspaperThe TelegraphDuring the recent visit of the USS Michigan submarine to Busan port, it is likely that the US Navy SEALs were given training for this plan.
 |
| A Type 214 submarine of the South Korean Navy was assembled by Daewoo Company but based on a design purchased with copyright from Germany. Photo: South Korean Army |
 |
| The US submarine USS Michigan docked at Busan port in early October. It is reported that SEALs on board participated in a rehearsal for an attack plan targeting Kim Jong-un. Photo: AFP |
What is the exposed "trump card"?
In the event that South Korea detects that North Korea is preparing to launch a war, its Aegis-equipped warships and submarines will be key elements in its preemptive strike plan.
South Korean army leaders have drawn up a three-tier missile strike plan aimed at quickly destroying North Korea's ballistic missile facilities, nuclear weapons and long-range artillery capabilities, according to an annual report by the National Assembly's National Defense Committee.The War Zone, the diesel-electric Jangbobo 3 missile submarine model may be included in this plan.
Notably, the Jangbobo 3 submarine model is among the projects that Daewoo Shipbuilding signed with the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) of South Korea, with the design and assembly agreement signed in December 2012. In September 2014, DAPA once again announced that Daewoo Shipbuilding was capable of implementing this state-of-the-art submarine project.
It is not clear whether designs and evaluation information on South Korea's future submarines were among the documents stolen by hackers. The South Korean Defense Ministry's investigation team has not yet revealed the sensitivity and importance of the leaked documents.
The Jangbobo 3 submarine is the final generation in a three-generation submarine modernization initiative, dubbed the “Korean Attack Submarine Program,” that began more than a decade ago. The first step of the program was to upgrade nine 1,200-ton Type 209 submarines that Germany sold to South Korea in the 1990s. The second modernization step was to purchase the license to assemble Germany’s 1,800-ton Type 214 submarines. Four of the nine submarines are now in service.
Jangbobo 3 is the final step in the Korean submarine modernization program. This submarine model was designed by Korea itself, without buying copyright from anyone and using advanced technology that is almost exclusive. The process of building and assembling the Jangbobo submarine was started in May 2017.
North Korea counterattacks North Korea has hit back at accusations by British Home Secretary Ben Wallace that Pyongyang was behind the global WannaCry ransomware attack. In the May ransomware attack, nearly a third of all public hospitals in Britain were infected with the malware, the newspaperThe Telegraphsaid. A spokesman for the Korea-Europe Association has rejected the allegations and warned the British government against making “groundless speculations.” The spokesman criticized the British government’s move as a “malicious act” aimed at drawing more international sanctions against North Korea. “This has gone beyond our tolerance and made us more skeptical about the real motive behind the British move,” the North Korean news agency reported.KCNAquote statement ___________________________ It is almost 100% certain that North Korean hackers were behind the cyber attack and the theft of sensitive company documents. KYEONG DAE-SOO,parliamentarian of the Liberty Korea Party, |
According to PLO
| RELATED NEWS |
|---|