In the past two weeks, American soldiers continue to die in Iraq. Economic issues continue to plague our country. Thousands of Americans havlost their jobs, their homes, and their health insurance coverage.
Posts Tagged ‘North Korea’
North Korea Army, Lab 110, Suspected Over Cyber Attacks
July 11th, 2009 |
No Comments
SEOUL, South Korea — A North Korean army lab of hackers was ordered to “destroy” South Korean communications networks _ evidence the isolated regime was behind cyberattacks that paralyzed South Korean and American Web sites _ news report…
North Korea launched cyber attacks, says south
July 11th, 2009 |
No Comments
Intelligence service claims document shows hackers across border waged internet war on Seoul and the US
South Korea has obtained intelligence that North Korea ordered a military institute of computer hackers known as Lab 110 to “destroy” its neighbour’s communications networks last month, news reports said.
The National Intelligence Service told parliament of its finding on Friday, the JoongAng Ilbo newspaper reported, citing evidence the north was behind cyber attacks that paralysed major South Korean and US websites in recent days.
The newspaper, citing unidentified members of the parliament’s intelligence committee, said Lab 110, which is affiliated with the north’s defence ministry, received an order to “destroy the South Korean puppet communications networks in an instant”.
The JoongAng Ilbo said Lab 110 specialised in hacking and spreading malicious programmes.
The NIS – South Korea’s main spy agency – said it could not confirm the report. Calls by Associated Press to several key intelligence committee members went unanswered.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency carried a similar report, saying the NIS obtained a North Korean document issuing the order on 7 June. The report, quoting an unidentified senior ruling party official, said the North Korean institute was affiliated with the people’s army.
The state-run Korea Communications Commission said it had identified and blocked five internet protocol (IP) addresses in five countries used to distribute computer viruses that caused the wave of website outages, which began in the US on 4 July.
The addresses point to computers distributing the virus that triggered the “denial of service” attacks in which many computers try to connect to a single site at the same time, overwhelming the server. They were in Austria, Georgia, Germany, South Korea and the US, a commission official said on condition of anonymity.
The attacks targeted high-profile websites, including those of the White House and South Korea’s presidential Blue House.
Though fingers were immediately pointed at the north, the IP addresses themselves provide little in the way of clarity. It is likely the hackers used the addresses to conceal their identities – for instance, by accessing the computers from a remote location. IP addresses can also be faked or masked, hiding a computer’s true location.
South Korean media reported in May that a North Korean internet warfare unit was trying to hack into American and South Korean military networks to gather confidential information and disrupt service. The Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported that the north had between 500 and 1,000 hackers.
Members of the parliamentary intelligence committee have said in recent days that the NIS also suspects North Korea because of a threat it made in state media last month where it boasted of being “fully ready for any form of hi-tech war”.
The fact that some of the attacked sites – such as that of the ruling party and the office of President Lee Myung-bak – have links to the South Korean government’s hardline policies toward the north were further cited.
The north has drawn repeated international rebukes in recent months for threats and actions seen as provocative by the international community. Those include a nuclear test in May and short-range ballistic missile launches on 4 July.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Kim Jong-Il Has ‘Serious’ Pancreas Disorder: Report
July 11th, 2009 |
No Comments
TOKYO (AFP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il is suffering from a “serious disorder” of the pancreas, a Japanese television network reported Friday, quoting a South Korean intelligence official.
More on North Korea
Clinton plea for N Korea captives
July 10th, 2009 |
No Comments
By Kim Ghattas
BBC News, Washington
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said she hopes North Korea will free two jailed American reporters.
Laura Ling and Euna Lee were imprisoned after apparently illegally entering North Korea from China in March.
The were sentenced to 12 years of hard labour for illegal border crossing and an unspecified "grave crime".
The US had so far appealed for their release on humanitarian grounds, but has now also acknowledged possible wrongdoing by the journalists.
‘Very sorry’
This is the first time that Mrs Clinton has appealed for amnesty for Ms Ling and Ms Lee.
She said the two reporters had expressed "great remorse for the incident", adding that "everyone is very sorry that it happened".
The secretary of state had so far dismissed the North Korean charges against the women as baseless.
Her comments came a day after the pair admitted they had broken North Korean law and said they needed help from their government, in a telephone call to Lisa Ling, Laura’s sister.
Mrs Clinton’s comments also coincide with a signal from North Korea that it would release the two journalists if the US made a formal apology.
Han Park, a Korea-born professor at an American university, made the suggestion after a trip to Pyongyang.
He also said North Korea had delayed sending the two journalists to a prison labour camp and was keeping them in a guest house.
Professor Park has in the past acted as a link between North Korea and Washington, in an unofficial capacity.
When asked whether Washington had sent Professor Park to Pyongyang, Secretary Clinton said she had no comment to make.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Britain ‘ready to negotiate Trident’
July 9th, 2009 |
No Comments
Brown rules out total abandonment, but agrees to reduction in summit expected to prevent proliferation on a new scale
Britain’s nuclear stockpile could be reduced in multilateral talks that are likely to flow from a global summit on nuclear weapons to be convened next year by US President Barack Obama, Gordon Brown indicated today.
The summit is expected to look at a new regime to prevent nuclear proliferation and the safe storage of nuclear stockpiles.
The summit, likely to involve as many as 30 countries, would provide an opportunity for discussion on a new, more intrusive weapons inspection regime and a chance for nuclear weapons states other than Russia and the US, owners of 95% of nuclear weapons, to contribute to the disarmament process.
There are due to be talks anyway next year on a successor to the 40-year-old nuclear non-proliferation treaty. The Obama summit, likely to be held in March, will also look at the risks posed by nuclear terrorism, the safety of nuclear stockpiles and atomic smuggling. The safety of nuclear stockpiles has been made more urgent by the likely vast spread of civil nuclear power worldwide. Obama briefed his fellow G8 leaders on his plan following his summit in Moscow earlier this week.
Gordon Brown indicated that a key aim of the Obama summit may also be to discuss a new regime whereby non-nuclear weapon states, such as Iran, would be placed on a new tougher obligation to prove that they were not developing nuclear weapons. In return, non-nuclear weapon states would be given greater help with developing civil nuclear power to meet their energy needs.
He is due in the next few days to publish a plan setting out detailed British proposals on civil nuclear power, disarmament and non-proliferation, fissile material security and the role and development of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
In a speech in March, Brown pointed out Britain had reduced the number of its nuclear warheads by 50% since 1997, and said: “If it is possible to reduce the number of UK warheads further, consistent with our national deterrence requirements and with the progress of multilateral discussions, Britain will be ready to do so.”
Since then Brown has announced a strategic defence review, and Obama has agreed with the Russians on a further reduction of their nuclear stockpile.
Yesterday Brown stressed he was not planning to reduce Britain’s nuclear stockpile unilaterally, or to revisit the decision to press ahead with a replacement for the Trident nuclear weapons system. But he indicated a better weapons inspection regime would help give Britain confidence to disarm.
He said: “We have go to show that we can deal with this by collective action. Unilateral action by the UK would not be seen as the best way forward. We are prepared to reduce our nuclear weapons, but we need new kinds of assurances that other countries are not proliferating.”
He said: “The issue for all countries is can we achieve a sensible reduction in nuclear weapons at this stage whilst existing nuclear weapon states remain so. No one is calling on us as part of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty to renounce our weapons. The whole point of the NPT is that those countries that have nuclear weapons will be willing to reduce them as much as possible and at the same time those countries that do not have nuclear weapons will be given the benefit of civil nuclear power whilst renouncing nuclear weapons.”
He added: “We need a tougher regime so the onus will be on the countries that do not have nuclear weapons to prove this. One of the problems with Iran is the question of whether you can prove or not that they have nuclear weapons. If there is an international agreement that requires all countries to be open with the rest of the world then Iran would have to prove to us that it did not have nuclear weapons rather than us to prove they were developing nuclear weapons.
“It is not guilty unless proven innocent, but if a country has accepted an obligation not to have nuclear weapons then you have got to prove and demonstrate that is the case, and I would think people would think that is fair.”
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Cyber attacks hit key networks in US and Korea
July 8th, 2009 |
No Comments
• White House, Pentagon and treasury targeted
• Seoul spy agency accuses Pyongyang of being culprit
A paralysing barrage of electronic cyber attacks has been let loose on government computers and networks in the US and South Korea, including the White House and Pentagon, underscoring the growth in assaults against vital state infrastructure.
Other targets affected by one of the most serious cyber attacks to hit the US included the New York stock exchange, the national security agency, homeland security department, state department and the Washington Post. In South Korea, the presidential Blue House came under fire from the rain of electronic interference, along with banks, government computers and media.
South Korean intelligence officials quickly pointed the finger at North Korea, or pro-Pyongyang forces. But computer security analysts in Seoul said that they had tracked the attack as an updated version of the Russian MyDoom virus – the world’s fastest spreading virus when it was first unleashed in 2004.
The new type of the virus appeared on Saturday in the US when it targeted a number of key US government institutions in a so-called denial of service attack, which bombards and jams networks with messages from infected computers, making them inaccessible. Two government officials acknowledged that sites belonging to the US treasury and secret service were brought down, and said the agencies were working with their internet service providers to resolve the problem.
Also hit was the US federal trade commission and the transportation department. So resilient was the attack that some sites were down for two days, while others are reported to be still suffering problems. The White House and Pentagon apparently deflected the incoming gremlins without major disruption.
A second wave of attacks began on Tuesday, targeting South Korean institutions. Both the US and South Korea suffer thousands of computer attacks daily, but rarely on this scale.
Cyber warfare is rapidly becoming one of the world’s most contentious security issues, with the US and Russia split over whether a treaty is required to formally ban it in international law, in a similar way to chemical weapons. Experts have warned that the world is confronting a “cyber arms race”, with Russia and China being the biggest global menaces.
According to AhnLab, a computer security consultancy in Seoul that has analysed the computer worm, it is an updated version of MyDoom that not only contains lists of the sites to be attacked, but also compromises the infected computer.
Others who examined the virus’s code said that it listed 13 South Korean and 23 US computer networks, although the writers had included the ability to add new targets at will.
South Korea’s main spy agency told MPs it believed that North Korea was behind the attacks. John Bumgarner, director of research at the US Cyber Consequences Unit, said: “There’s been a lot of chatter recently about cyber war. The North Koreans may have felt they were not getting enough attention launching missiles, so they moved into another potential warfare – cyber. It’s a form of sabre rattling. But did the North Koreans launch it themselves, or did someone do it for them?”
Asia has become the most active cyber-war front. North Korea is understood to have set up a computer warfare unit in the late 1980s, mirroring China’s military investment in cyber warfare capability.
The first versions of MyDoom were traced originally to Russia. Both western and Russian security firms, which examined version one of the virus, said they were certain it had originated there.
Analysts studying the US outage said the fact that government websites were still affected three days later indicated an unusually sophisticated attack.
But Professor Peter Sommer, an expert on cyber-terrorism at the London School of Economics, warned against jumping to immediate conclusions about the source of the attacks.
“Even if you are right about the fact of being attacked, initial diagnoses are often wrong,” he said.
Previous onslaughts
Estonia v Russia
In 2007 a flood of bogus visits from computers worldwide brought down Estonian media, banking and government websites. The “denial of service” attack came days after a row with ethnic Russians over a Red Army statue.
Russia v Georgia
In 2008 another denial of service attack, this time against Georgia, coincided with Russia’s military advance against the former Soviet republic.
China v US
Last year a US congressional panel reported that Chinese hackers regularly targeted networks and databases used by the US government and American defence contractors.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
North Korea ‘tests Scud missiles’
July 4th, 2009 |
No Comments
• South Korea reports launch of seven ballistic missiles
• Tests on US Independence Day violate UN resolutions
North Korea fired seven ballistic missiles off its eastern coast today, according to South Korea, a violation of UN resolutions and an apparent message of defiance to the United States on Independence Day.
The launches, which came two days after North Korea fired four short-range cruise missiles, will likely further escalate tensions in the region as the US tries to muster support for tough enforcement of the UN resolution imposed on the communist regime for its May nuclear test.
South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff said three missiles were fired early this morning, a fourth around midday and three more in the afternoon. The defence ministry said the missiles were ballistic and are believed to have flown more than 250 miles (400km).
“Our military is fully ready to counter any North Korean threats and provocations based on strong South Korea-US combined defence posture,” the joint chiefs said in a statement.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency quoted military officials as saying the missiles appeared to be a type of Scud missile, which are considered short-range.
North Korea is not allowed to fire either Scuds, medium-range missiles or long-range missiles under a resolution that bans any launch using ballistic missile technology. Thursday’s launches, however, did not violate the resolution as they were cruise missiles rather than ballistic, according to South Korea’s foreign ministry.
Ballistic missiles are guided during their ascent but fall freely when they descend. Cruise missiles are fired straight at a target.
The North has a record of timing missile tests around the US national holiday. During the Independence Day holiday in 2006, Pyongyang fired a barrage of missiles, including a long-range Taepodong-2 that broke apart and fell into the ocean less than a minute after liftoff. Those launches also came amid tensions with the US over North Korea’s nuclear programme.
A senior official in South Korea’s presidential office said today’s missile launches were “part of military exercises, but North Korea also appeared to have sent a message to the US”.
He said North Korea could fire more missiles in coming days, but there was little possibility it could fire an intercontinental ballistic missile, as it threatened to do in April.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to media.
North Korea’s state news agency carried no reports of the launches. But the North had warned ships to stay away from its east coast until 10 July for military exercises – an indication it was planning missile operations.
The chief of US naval operations, Admiral Gary Roughead, said the American military was ready for any North Korean missile tests.
“Our ships and forces here are prepared for the tracking of the missiles and observing the activities that are going on,” Roughead said after meeting Japanese military officials in Tokyo before the news of the launches.
South Korea and Japan, which are within easy range of North Korean missiles, condemned the launches as a “provocative” act that violated the UN resolution.
South Korea “expressed deep regret over the North’s continuous behaviour that escalates tensions in north-east Asia by repeatedly defying” the resolution, the foreign ministry said.
Tokyo declared the launch “a serious act of provocation” against the security of neighbouring countries, including Japan.
In Beijing, a foreign ministry spokesman said he had no immediate comment. China is the North’s closest ally.
The US said last month it had positioned more missile defences around Hawaii as a precaution against a potential long-range missile launch by North Korea. Such a test would further flout the UN sanctions resolution punishing Pyongyang for its 25 May nuclear test.
But spy satellites have apparently not detected any of the preparations that would normally precede such a launch.
Pyongyang wants to show Washington that it is not yielding to pressure, and the regime is likely to save a long-range launch for later, according to Kim Yong-hyun, a professor at Seoul’s Dongguk University and an expert on the country.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
North Korea test-fires two missiles
July 2nd, 2009 |
No Comments
Fears grow that latest launches could fuel tensions following nuclear test in May
North Korea test-fired two short-range missiles from its east coast today, South Korean media reported, as a US envoy was in Beijing to discuss new sanctions against the reclusive regime.
South Korean intelligence experts had anticipated tests, including of banned ballistic rockets, from two sites in early July. New missile launches could exacerbate tensions running high since Pyongyang’s 25 May underground nuclear test and a series of missile firings.
The UN security council adopted a tough sanctions resolution last month in response to the nuclear test. Philip Goldberg, a former US ambassador, who is in charge of co-ordinating the implementation of sanctions, was meeting representatives from the Chinese foreign ministry and other relevant ministries.
As China is Pyongyang’s closest ally and largest source of fuel and food aid, its co-operation is crucial in persuading North Korea to resume nuclear disarmament talks. The new UN resolution calls on UN members to request inspections of ships suspected of carrying prohibited cargo.
A North Korean ship came under intense scrutiny for more than a week by the US navy as it was detected heading toward Burma with suspicious cargo. On Sunday, the Kang Nam 1, the first vessel monitored under UN sanctions, turned around and headed back north. Pyongyang said that any interception of its ships would be considered a declaration of war.
China has sent its own envoy, vice foreign minister Wu Dawei, on an extended trip to Russia, the US, Japan and South Korea to talk about the Korean nuclear situation and how to restart the six-party disarmament talks.
“The purpose of Wu Dawei’s visit is to exchange views with relevant parties on the nuclear issues on the Korean peninsula and the situation in northeast Asia,” said a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang.
Separately, North and South Korea ended their latest talks over a troubled joint industrial project, apparently without progress, and failed to set a date for the next round of talks, South Korea’s unification ministry said.
Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung said the two sides met for a little over one hour in the morning in the North Korean border city of Kaesong.
The countries have been at odds over the fate of a South Korean worker who has been detained in the north since March for allegedly denouncing its political system. The north has rejected Seoul’s repeated calls for the worker’s freedom. It has also demanded that South Korean companies sharply increase wages for North Korean workers and fees paid for the use of the land.
As relations with South Korea deteriorated, the north halted all key joint projects except for the South Korean-run complex at Kaesong, a prominent symbol of past attempts at reconciliation.
It is believed North Korea is highly likely to test-fire a barrage of missiles in coming days, a move that would aggravate the already high tensions following Pyongyang’s nuclear test and UN sanctions.
The north is expected to launch short or medium-range missiles, including banned ballistic rockets, from two sites on its east coast in early July, the South Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo reported, citing an unidentified intelligence source.
Last month, Pyongyang designated a no-sail zone off its east coast for military drills through to 10 July. Media reports have said the missile launches could come around 4 July, the US Independence Day. The north tested a long-range missile on that day in 2006.
Today’s reports say North Korea has test-fired two short-range missiles. Yonhap news agency reported that the north fired two ground-to-ship missiles from its east coast. The report gave no further details.
South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff could not immediately confirm the report.
North Korea had earlier issued a no-sail zone in waters off its east coast through 10 July.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
UN warns of starving North Korean millions
July 1st, 2009 |
No Comments
• World Food Programme helping a fifth of those in need
• US-monitored North Korean ship turns for home
Millions of North Koreans face hunger and worsening malnutrition, the World Food Programme said today after scaling back its operations in the impoverished country.
The UN aid agency said it was reaching fewer than a third of those targeted and about a fifth of those in need.
It blamed a lack of international donations, with none since the state’s nuclear test in May, and said it faced new restrictions from Pyongyang. It said it had received 15% of the $504m it needed.
Torben Due, the WFP’s representative for North Korea, told reporters in Beijing that since January it had been delivering reduced food packages and reaching 1.7 million people. “It is amongst the lowest [number] we’re ever had in the DPRK [North Korea],” he said.
The agency estimates that 8.7 million people need food aid, and the emergency operation launched last autumn aimed to reach 6.2 million. It has been distributing a tenth of the 40,000 metric tonnes it aimed to deliver each month.
“There’s a need to do more, and that’s why we are asking these donor countries for more,” Due said.
North Korea has relied on foreign aid since a crippling famine in the mid-1990s, which killed hundreds of thousands.
Tensions continue in the region and US officials said today that a North Korean ship under scrutiny by the US navy for more than a week appeared to be returning northwards. The Kang Nam 1 is the first vessel to be monitored under UN sanctions intended to clamp down on the trade of banned arms and weapons-related material.
Unnamed officials in Washington said the ship, believed to have been bound for Burma with suspicious cargo on board, had turned around on Sunday. Pyongyang renewed its warning that intercepting its ships would be a declaration of war.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds