Police to conduct cyberattack drill

Police said Wednesday they will conduct the first nationwide drills to test response against potential cyberattacks from North Korea amid growing alarms over Pyongyang's cyberwarfare targeting key infrastructure in the country.

As part of the training, which will begin at 2:00 p.m. Thursday involving the National Police Agency (NPA) and 16 regional police agencies, authorities will examine readiness to counter North Korea-orchestrated hacks into flight control systems at 15 airports in South Korea.

During the simulation, which will take place nationwide for the first time, the police will lay out an emergency response plan and dispatch anti-terrorism unit agents to sites under attack to collect evidence and minimize the fallout. The exercise will also examine law enforcement's ability to track down Internet protocol data of suspected terrorists and apprehend them.

"The police will carry out various counter-cyberterror measures as threats of such attacks (from the North) have been on a rise," said a police official involved in the simulation training, asking not to be named. The official added that the police will strive to cooperate with related state agencies to enhance countermeasure capability.

The scheduled exercise comes as an anti-terrorism bill has been pending at the National Assembly that the ruling Saenuri Party and the Park Geun-hye government say is essential to better protect the lives of the South Koreans.

The bill is expected to be passed through the parliament later Wednesday after weeks of partisan wrangling.

North Korea previously launched a cyberattack against South Korea in July 2009, two months after its second nuclear test. It also hacked South Korean media organizations in March 2013, a month after its third nuclear test. (Yonhap)