Korea finds no unauthorized access after US indicts Chinese hackers for targeting foreign entities

Foreign ministry's spokesperson Lee Jae-woong speaks during a regular press briefing in Seoul, March 6. Yonhap

Korea has found no records of unauthorized access to the foreign ministry's email system, a ministry official said Thursday, following the U.S. announcement of mass indictments against Chinese hackers in connection with a global cybercrime campaign.

The U.S. Justice Department announced Wednesday (local time) that it has charged 12 Chinese nationals for hacking U.S. agencies, media outlets and other organizations. Among the targeted entities was Korea's foreign ministry.

"We have found no records of unauthorized access to the foreign ministry's email system to date," ministry spokesperson Lee Jae-woong said in a press briefing.

The indictments include the charges against employees of I-Soon, a private hacking company, accused of hacking email accounts of U.S. religious groups, Chinese dissidents, U.S. government agencies and foreign ministries of several Asian countries.

The indictment charges that a former employee of I-Soon attempted to sell unauthorized access to multiple inboxes of Korea's foreign ministry to China's Ministry of State Security. (Yonhap)