June 05,2012 Korea Joongang Daily
North Korea was caught attempting cyberattacks on Incheon International Airport using viruses planted in game programs, according to
the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. A 39-year-old South Korean game distributor was arrested on Sunday for involvement and charged with
violating the National Security Law. The National Intelligence Service helped arrest him, police said.
According to the police, the South Korean man, identified by the surname Jo, traveled to Shenyang, northeastern China, starting in September
2009 and met agents of an alleged North Korean trading company. He allegedly asked them to develop game software to be used in the South.
The North Koreans were actually agents from the North’s Reconnaissance General Bureau, and Jo was aware of that, police said.
<a href="http://s1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/?action=view&current=NKoreaPoster3.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/NKoreaPoster3.png" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a><a href="http://s1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/?action=view&current=Noth_Korea_Warfare.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/Noth_Korea_Warfare.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
Jo purchased dozens of computer game software for tens of millions of won, which was a third the cost of the same kind of software in the South.
The games were infected with malignant viruses, of which Jo knew, an official at the police agency said. Jo sold the games to South Korean operators
of online games. When people played the games, the viruses used their computers as zombies, through which the cyberattack was launched.
So-called “a distributed denial-of-service attack,” this cyberattack against Incheon International Airport occurred two or three times in March 2011,
police said. The attack was fended off by the intelligence authorities in the South.
<a href="http://s1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/?action=view&current=Incheon_Departures.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/Incheon_Departures.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
The police and intelligence authorities also suspect that the North’s Reconnaissance General Bureau is behind a technical glitch in the flight data
processor that paralyzed air traffic control at Incheon International Airport for nearly an hour last Sept. 15. The glitch disrupted the departures
of 18 airplanes from the airport. The police said they are looking into the possibility that North Korea planted a computer virus as powerful as the
Stuxnet virus into the air traffic control at Incheon International Airport.
North Korea was caught attempting cyberattacks on Incheon International Airport using viruses planted in game programs, according to
the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. A 39-year-old South Korean game distributor was arrested on Sunday for involvement and charged with
violating the National Security Law. The National Intelligence Service helped arrest him, police said.
According to the police, the South Korean man, identified by the surname Jo, traveled to Shenyang, northeastern China, starting in September
2009 and met agents of an alleged North Korean trading company. He allegedly asked them to develop game software to be used in the South.
The North Koreans were actually agents from the North’s Reconnaissance General Bureau, and Jo was aware of that, police said.
<a href="http://s1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/?action=view&current=NKoreaPoster3.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/NKoreaPoster3.png" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a><a href="http://s1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/?action=view&current=Noth_Korea_Warfare.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/Noth_Korea_Warfare.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
Jo purchased dozens of computer game software for tens of millions of won, which was a third the cost of the same kind of software in the South.
The games were infected with malignant viruses, of which Jo knew, an official at the police agency said. Jo sold the games to South Korean operators
of online games. When people played the games, the viruses used their computers as zombies, through which the cyberattack was launched.
So-called “a distributed denial-of-service attack,” this cyberattack against Incheon International Airport occurred two or three times in March 2011,
police said. The attack was fended off by the intelligence authorities in the South.
<a href="http://s1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/?action=view&current=Incheon_Departures.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/Incheon_Departures.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
The police and intelligence authorities also suspect that the North’s Reconnaissance General Bureau is behind a technical glitch in the flight data
processor that paralyzed air traffic control at Incheon International Airport for nearly an hour last Sept. 15. The glitch disrupted the departures
of 18 airplanes from the airport. The police said they are looking into the possibility that North Korea planted a computer virus as powerful as the
Stuxnet virus into the air traffic control at Incheon International Airport.
