An anti-nuclear group released confidential information of Korea's Blue House and the Ministry of National Defense on Tuesday, raising public concerns over the issue.
This was the tenth releases since the group last unveiled information late last year but the government is still not able to identify how and when the information was leaked.
The group sent an e-mail to the government with attachment of 10 files related to the Blue House, National Intelligence Service, Ministry of National Defense and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. The files includes documents titled "Meeting result with the Chief Presidential Secretary" which was made in a meeting held in Western Chosun Hotel in 2013 and "Signals showing the U.S. policy change toward Korea,” both of which belong to the Blue House and the National Intelligence Service respectively.
Other files include letters between former a deputy commander in chief of South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command and the U.S. general. A blueprint of a local nuclear power plant was also included.
Calling themselves as "Who Am I," the anti-nuclear group has threatened the government, saying "We already held a global public bidding for the confidential information of the government, and we have inquiries from North Korea, Southeast Asia, Africa and South America."
"When the deal is done, we will send the files to any countries," they added.
Industry watchers said that the reason why they included North Korea first in the list is to deny that they are North Koreans. Earlier, the government said the hacking crimes appear to be done by North Korea.
What is worse, the government is not still able to identify how and when the information was leaked. The joint investigation team said it is tracing the hackers in partnership with Federal Bureau of Investigation but it hasn't found any clear analysis on the identity of the group. They are also vulnerable to the psychological warfare for the public.
Meanwhile, the anti-nuclear group has strengthened the psychological warfare systematically. When the joint investigation team shut off its Twitter account, the group sent e-mails to the reporters, who have covered the issue, to inform new Twitter account and the new storage location.
Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co dismissed their threat, saying, "The documents are just general information which were shared with partner companies," adding, however, that, "We are not able to identify when and where the information was leaked."
The Ministry of National Defense also said, "There is no trace that the ministry was hacked. In partnership with related agencies, we are investigating the how the information was leaked."
One North Korean expert declining to be identified said, "The anti-nuclear group is systematic with the separate organizations of hacking team and psychological warfare team," adding that, "They are maximizing the psychological warfare by releasing information of other seemingly irrelevant government agencies apart from Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co."
Korea Institute of Information Security & Cryptology's chief Park Choon-sik said, "The government should swiftly identify the authenticity of the information first. After that, they should find out whether the information was hacked or leaked by insiders."
He added that, "As the government repeatedly says that the information is not important or they are investigating, it only aggravates uneasiness of the public."
On the same day, the group hacked 13 government websites and inserted phrases such as Hacked by NNPT(Who Am I) and the opposition to the nuclear power plant threatening safety and life.
