N.K. hackers freely accessed S.K. military networks for 20 days

The South Korean military authority has decided to discipline 26 people involved in the case that presumably North Korean hackers penetrated South Korea’s military intranet and Intranet (military network) and robbed en masse classified military information, including materials containing the South Korea-U.S. allied forces’ wartime operation plans, for the first time in military history in September last year.

The military prosecution announced on Tuesday the results of investigation that they conducted by forming a taskforce in December last year. According to the results, the 26 people to be disciplined include six field officer- and officer-level officers from the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Special Warfare Command that provided a cause for the leaks of military intelligence. It is suspected that they failed to follow the security regulations when preparing documents on classified military information. Those against whom disciplinary actions are sought included Byun Jae-seon, commander of the Military Cyber Command, and head of the Defense Integrated Data Center, who allegedly provided "interface" that allowed the hackers to spared malign codes into even the defense network by intermixing the Internet and the defense network.

Critics say that the military authority applied lenience for the wrongdoings since none has been criminally charged in such a grave case in which access to South Korean military intelligence was open to the North for about 20 days. “Since mistakes combined in multiple phases have resulted in grave consequences, it is difficult to hold individuals criminally responsible,” a military prosecutor said.

The military kept it under wrap the kind of leaked military information by citing military security. However, critics claim that the military is making excuse by citing military security only when they need after allowing hacking due to lack of security awareness.

Hyo-Ju Son hjson@donga.com