North Korea lashes out at US over cyber threats

By Kuksung Nam, The Readable
Sep. 15, 2022 9:12PM KST

North Korea on Wednesday lashed out at the United States, accusing it of spreading false information about North Korea being a cyber threat to national security.

Kim Kuk-myong, a member of the Association for Countermeasures against International Cybercrimes, said in an article posted on the North Korean Foreign Ministry’s official website that the U.S. is misusing cyberspace “as a tool for realizing its heinous anti-DPRK pressure.”

“For the past 10 years, it [the U.S.] has scheme to charge us with ‘cybercrime’ by frequently playing all sorts of farce,” stressed Kim in the article. “We will never remain an idle spectator when the U.S. spreads rumors about the ‘cyber threat,’ deceiving the international society at large.”

The remarks came as the U.S. is strengthening its cooperation with allied countries in combating malicious cyber activities by the North Korean government. Last week, the U.S. State Department Cyberspace and Digital Policy bureau said in a statement that they are sponsoring a training series for global partners in Western Hemisphere, Africa, and Asia to counter North Korean cyber threats.

The bureau stated that North Korea has “increasingly relied on malicious cyber activities to generate revenue for its UN-prohibited weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs” in recent years. In July, the U.S. justice department announced that the department and the FBI disrupted the ransomware activities of hacking groups sponsored by the North Korean government and recovered half a million dollars of ransom payments and cryptocurrency.

In addition, cooperation between South Korea and the U.S. in cyberspace is growing closer as the two nations are enhancing defense capabilities.

At the end of July, Anne Neuberger, the Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technologies, visited South Korea as a follow up on a joint statement made by the South Korean and U.S. presidents in May to expand cooperation in combating cyber threats, including North Korea. In August, the South Korean Cyber Operations Command and its U.S. counterpart signed a memorandum of understanding, pledging further partnership in cybersecurity.

nam@thereadable.co

Kuksung Nam is a cybersecurity journalist for The Readable. She covers cybersecurity issues in South Korea, including the public and private sectors. Prior to joining The Readable, she worked as a political reporter for one of the top-five local newspapers in South Korea, The Kyeongin Ilbo, where she reported several exclusive stories regarding the misconduct of local government officials. She is currently focused on issues related to anti-fraud, as well as threats and crimes in cyberspace. She is a Korean native who is fluent in English and French, and she is interested in delivering the news to a global audience.