A North Korean soldier takes photographs via the window whereas U.S. Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Workers, is briefed on the Demilitarized Zone in South Korea, Nov. 11, 2012. (D. Myles Cullen/U.S. Army)
CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea — A particular operations officer within the South Korean military allegedly traded army secrets and techniques to a North Korean hacker in change for almost $70,000 in cryptocurrency, based on a South Korean army affidavit.
The military captain, recognized within the redacted affidavit solely as Kim, his surname, was arrested April 6 and charged with violating the Nationwide Safety Act, army prosecutors state within the doc.
The allegations in opposition to Kim are “completely shameful,” stated a former South Korean particular forces officer and former commander of a joint help group.
“In my 19 year-career within the army, that is the primary time I’ve heard this type of information,” Lee Kwan Woo, a former commander within the Eighth Army’s U.S.-South Korea joint help group, informed Stars and Stripes by telephone Wednesday. “Particular forces officers and noncommissioned officers are educated on safety — all of these members are educated very critically to maintain safety.”
Kim attended South Korea’s college of infantry in 2015, based on army data cited within the affidavit. He then served as a platoon chief for a reconnaissance firm in 2016 and 5 years later grew to become an organization commander within the thirteenth Particular Mission Brigade, based on Lee a particular operations group particularly educated to seize or kill leaders in North Korea.
In March 2020, an unidentified former classmate approached Kim with a proposal of cash in change for army info for a 3rd celebration, based on the affidavit. Kim declined the provide, saying such an act is against the law, the affidavit states.
Round six months later, Kim, now in monetary straits on account of on-line playing, accepted his classmates’ provide, the affidavit stated. The classmate launched Kim to Boris, a person who claimed to be an ethnic Korean dwelling in China.
Boris, later recognized as an agent for a North Korean hacking group, posed as an info dealer working for an unlawful sports-betting web site, based on the affidavit. Boris claimed that info given to him can be handed on to Russian entities.
Prosecutors alleged Kim started offering Boris details about South Korea’s army in November. At Boris’ request, Kim used his cellphone to {photograph} the secured army community’s login display screen and despatched the pictures via Telegram, an encrypted messaging service.
In January, Kim allegedly collected further photographs, together with the start-up screens for computer systems, for Boris. The North Korean agent was making ready a “USB-type” module containing a trojan horse to hack into the army community, based on the affidavit.
Kim went on to ship photos of “wartime and peacetime operational” plans to Boris, which might “incur apparent hazard to nationwide safety and pursuits,” the affidavit stated.
Kim is believed by prosecutors to have obtained 0.89761 Bitcoin — equal to roughly $28,300 as of Wednesday — in change for his providers between November and March.
One Bitcoin reached an all-time excessive of roughly $68,000 in November. Its worth plummeted since then and is presently buying and selling at round $31,000, relying on cryptocurrency exchanges.
U.S. officers in latest weeks have warned of an increase in North Korea’s illicit actions involving cryptocurrency thefts and laptop community assaults.
“These capabilities additionally help army operations and nationwide safety objectives to gather info, garner illicit income, and unfold propaganda,” Navy Adm. John Aquilino, commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, wrote in an announcement submitted to Congress on Might 17. “Cyber-enabled monetary theft, extortion campaigns, and cryptojacking—compromising computing assets to mine digital forex — fund a lot of Pyongyang’s weapons growth applications.”
