North Korea accused South Korea on Saturday of having hands behind cyber attacks on its propaganda Web sites by an international hacking group, denouncing the attacks as part of an organized smear campaign against the communist nation.
The Anonymous hacktivist group has conducted a series of attacks on several North Korean-run Web sites, including Uriminzokkiri, and stole lists of tens of thousands of their subscribers and made them public. The latest attacks came last week on the 101st birthday of the communist regime's founder Kim Il-sung.
"This is intolerable as it is a wanton violation of the DPRK's legitimate internet activities recognized by international law," the North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
"Matter is that the Intelligence Service and other forces of South Korea have their tentacles stretched deep into such provocative acts against the DPRK," it said. DPRK stands for North Korea's official name, Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
South Korean authorities have launched an investigation to see if those who registered with the North's propaganda sites violated related domestic laws. No South Koreans can contact North korea or its people without prior government approval.
The South's "puppet regime is kicking up the whirlwind of wholesale suppression of progressive organizations and figures on the list, branding them as 'North's spies' and "those following the North.' This proves that the puppet regime is the very one behind the cyber attacks," it said.