Evidence mounts – North Korea army behind cyberattacks

Well, it looks like some U.S. media haven’t been probing American “security experts” hard enough about last week’s cyberattacks. The government of South Korea is gathering more evidence that the North Korean Army was behind the computer attacks on South Korean and U.S. government financial and national security websites and computers just before the Fourth of July.

Members of (South Korea’s) parliamentary intelligence committee have said in recent days that the National Intelligence Service has also pointed to a North Korean boast last month that it was “fully ready for any form of high-tech war.”

The spy agency told lawmakers Friday that a research institute affiliated with the North's Ministry of People's Armed Forces received an order to “destroy the South Korean puppet communications networks in an instant,” the mass-circulation JoongAng Ilbo newspaper reported.

To me, it’s clear for the reasons I originally reported, that Washington doesn’t even want to discuss this because it’s kind of pooping its collective national security pants. Is it just “coincidence” that the Obama Administration proposed new cybersecurity legislation at the same time?

Anyway, since the WaPost, NYT, etc. aren’t covering the story with much depth, the AP story a must read.

As I blogged two days ago, and the mainstream media is finally catching up to, that’s the best explanation I can think of for cyberattacks that knocked out financial and national security websites in both the U.S. and South Korea over the Fourth of July.

And, here is the bottom line of why I said then that Washington was being tight-lipped:

Remember how North Korea partnered with Pakistan’s A.Q. Khan to spread rocket technology and nuclear know-how? Don’t you doubt for a second that Pyongyang will sell this technology wherever possible.

Also, assuming my original rhetorical question about North Korean has a “yes” answer, U.S. and South Korean officials both have to be pooping their pants. The Kims, father and son, are both not the most mentally stable world leaders.

That is why Team Obama won’t say anything of substance.

At the same time, many South Koreans say they don’t like the hardline stance toward Pyongyang of South Korean President Lee Myung Bak, elected in 2007.