Two South Koreans, including an active-duty army captain, have been detained on charges of stealing military secrets from a North Korean agent who allegedly made cryptocurrency payments, Seoul police said on Friday.
A police statement said it was the first case where “a civilian and an active-duty captain were arrested while trying to obtain military secrets at the request of a North Korean agent.”
Officials said the 29-year-old captain was suspected of transmitting information obtained from South Korea’s Joint Command and Control System, an important internal army communications network, to the so-called Pyongyang spy.
The other detainee is a 38-year-old businessman who heads the digital asset management group. He allegedly gave the captain a wristwatch with a hidden camera to help him gather more information.
The businessman is also suspected of purchasing and installing a hacking device called “Toxic Touch” to gain access to the military’s Command and Control System and Set.
The military received almost $38,000 and the businessman about $600,000, all paid in cryptocurrency.
The two countries are technically at war since the Korean War (1950-53) ended with the signing of an armistice, not a peace treaty.
The nuclear-capable communist regime has mobilized an army of hackers to attack companies and institutions in other countries, often with an economic profit that allows the country to mitigate the effects of international sanctions on its weapons program.
US officials this month accused hackers linked to North Korea of committing $620 million worth of cryptocurrency scams against users of the popular game Axie Infinity.
source: Noticias
