By Yi Whan-woo
North Korean hackers accessed hundreds of classified military documents in September last year, including one about a Seoul-Washington operational plan on removing Pyongyang's leadership, according to a lawmaker, Monday.
The revelation contradicts the Ministry of National Defense's explanation in May that, although its cyber networks were compromised in September 2016, the data leak was not at a "serious level."
Citing information from the ministry, Rhee Cheol-hee of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) said 235 gigabytes of data were stolen after the hackers broke into internet websites and the intranet managed by the Defense Integrated Data Center (DIDC).
The DIDC is responsible for storing all types of digital military data.
It has only identified 22.5 percent or 53 gigabytes of the stolen data and does not know the content of the rest.
Among the leaked data were 226 files classified as "secret" and 42 others listed as "confidential."
They included OPLANs 5015 and 3100. OPLAN 5015 calls for a joint pre-emptive strike by South Korea and the United States on North Korea's core military facilities and weapons, and also to "decapitate" Pyongyang's leadership.
The military previously said it would launch a new unit by December to carry out this mission.
"The decapitation operation especially mentioned a detailed, four-stage strategy of identifying the targeted officials as well as their whereabouts, blocking the whereabouts, launching an air assault on the targets and removing them. And this plan was compromised completely," Rhee said in a press release.
OPLAN 3100 is about Seoul's response plans to the North Korean military provocations, such as a penetration into the South.
The stolen data also included contingency plans for the Special Warfare Command, reports on top commanders of the South Korean and U.S. militaries, data on the allies' Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise and information on key military facilities and power plants here, according to Rhee.
"The military is still facing difficulty in finding out the content of the stolen data because the hackers destroyed evidence to cover their trail," he said.
Military analysts raised concerns over the cyber intrusion, saying, "North Korea can upgrade its plans to attack the South."
In May, the military prosecution announced that it suspected the country's cyber defense networks were hacked by North Korea in September 2016.
However, it did not disclose what files were compromised and only asked that relevant officers at the DIDC and Military Cyber Command be reprimanded.
North Korean hackers accessed hundreds of classified military documents in September last year, including one about a Seoul-Washington operational plan on removing Pyongyang's leadership, according to a lawmaker, Monday.
The revelation contradicts the Ministry of National Defense's explanation in May that, although its cyber networks were compromised in September 2016, the data leak was not at a "serious level."
Citing information from the ministry, Rhee Cheol-hee of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) said 235 gigabytes of data were stolen after the hackers broke into internet websites and the intranet managed by the Defense Integrated Data Center (DIDC).
The DIDC is responsible for storing all types of digital military data.
It has only identified 22.5 percent or 53 gigabytes of the stolen data and does not know the content of the rest.
Among the leaked data were 226 files classified as "secret" and 42 others listed as "confidential."
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They included OPLANs 5015 and 3100. OPLAN 5015 calls for a joint pre-emptive strike by South Korea and the United States on North Korea's core military facilities and weapons, and also to "decapitate" Pyongyang's leadership.
The military previously said it would launch a new unit by December to carry out this mission.
"The decapitation operation especially mentioned a detailed, four-stage strategy of identifying the targeted officials as well as their whereabouts, blocking the whereabouts, launching an air assault on the targets and removing them. And this plan was compromised completely," Rhee said in a press release.
OPLAN 3100 is about Seoul's response plans to the North Korean military provocations, such as a penetration into the South.
The stolen data also included contingency plans for the Special Warfare Command, reports on top commanders of the South Korean and U.S. militaries, data on the allies' Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise and information on key military facilities and power plants here, according to Rhee.
"The military is still facing difficulty in finding out the content of the stolen data because the hackers destroyed evidence to cover their trail," he said.
Military analysts raised concerns over the cyber intrusion, saying, "North Korea can upgrade its plans to attack the South."
In May, the military prosecution announced that it suspected the country's cyber defense networks were hacked by North Korea in September 2016.
However, it did not disclose what files were compromised and only asked that relevant officers at the DIDC and Military Cyber Command be reprimanded.
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