[News Terms] Kim Su-ki Listed on Government's Independent North Korea Sanctions List

'Kimsuky' is a North Korean hacking organization operating under the Reconnaissance General Bureau's Third Bureau (Technical Reconnaissance Bureau). It was established in 2012 to carry out cyber attacks against South Korea, the United States, and others. The group conducts cyber attacks targeting key figures in governments, politics, academia, and the media worldwide, providing the obtained information to the North Korean regime.

Notable activities attributed to Kimsuky include the 2014 leak of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power's nuclear power plant blueprints, impersonation of the National Security Office in 2016, attempts to steal submarine and warship development technology from Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering in 2021, attempts to steal various weapon systems such as Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI)'s Korean fighter jet KF-21 Boramae, and the leak of personal information of about 7,000 patients from Seoul National University Hospital.

[Photo by Pixabay]

In addition, Kimsuky has hacked various domestic advanced technologies related to weapons, artificial satellites, and space, and has long actively attempted hacking targeting domestic public institutions, experts in diplomacy and security fields, and virtual currencies.

The group mainly used tactics such as impersonating reporters to distribute malware to experts in defense, security, unification, and diplomacy to steal confidential information. At the end of last year, it launched attacks against National Assembly member Tae Young-ho and others, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, it also attempted to steal information about domestically developed vaccines.

The government has decided to impose independent sanctions on Kimsuky. On the 2nd, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it would designate Kimsuky as a target of independent sanctions against North Korea for diverting advanced technology and directly or indirectly participating in North Korea's satellite development. This announcement came two days after North Korea launched the 'Chollima-1' launch vehicle carrying a military reconnaissance satellite, marking the first sanctions following the government's statement that it would make North Korea pay an "appropriate price" for the satellite launch.

In diplomatic circles, independent sanctions against North Korea in the cyber sector are the third following the United States in 2019, the European Union in 2020, and Japan last year, but it is considered symbolically significant as the first independent sanctions by the South Korean government.