N. Korea blames U.S., S. Korea for cyber attack

North Korea on Friday accused its enemies of launching cyber attacks against its Internet servers as the communist country threatens all-out war in response to ongoing South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises. 

The (North) Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) monitored in Seoul said in a commentary that Internet servers operated by the state have come under intensive and persistent cyber attacks. It added that the cyber attacks are of significance because they are taking place while the United States and South Korea are conducting massive military exercises.

"These attacks cannot be construed otherwise than despicable and base acts of the hostile forces consternated by the toughest measures taken by the DPRK (against the joint exercises)," the report said in an English dispatch. The DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name. 

The commentary said that it is no secret that the U.S. and South Korea have bolstered their cyber forces to mount such attacks, hinting strongly that it views these two countries as being responsible for its Internet service disruption.

The KCNA said that Pyongyang will not remain passive to the cyber attacks carried out by its enemies that have reached grave levels and are part of a larger plan to stifle the North.

"They are seriously mistaken if they think they can quell the DPRK's voices of justice through such base acts," it said. 

South Korea and the United States kicked off their annual Key Resolve and Foal Eagle military drills in earnest this week. The two allies have repeatedly said the exercises are designed to repel attacks from the North, but Pyongyang has claimed they are a dress rehearsal to invade the communist country.

In response, the North in the past week unilaterally nullified the Armistice Agreement that ended the Korean War (1950-53) and declared it will not honor non-aggression pacts signed between the two Koreas.

Meanwhile, the report of a cyber attack was first reported on Wednesday when a Russian news wire service said access to the Internet in North Korea was blocked and that official sources believed the country may have come under a powerful cyber attack.

Independent reports indicated that the attacks began Wednesday morning and lasted until Thursday afternoon, and affected sites run by the media organization such as the KCNA and the Rodong Sinmun, as well as other state-run Internet servers.

South Korea's unification ministry said it has no knowledge of the attacks mentioned by the North and pointed out it will probably take time to determine the details of the incident. 

In the past, North Korea has been accused on several occasions of carrying out cyber attacks against various Web sites in South Korea and the United States, with many observers in Seoul speculating the country operates a government organization that specializes in disrupting foreign Internet connectivity and services. (Yonhap News)