Pyongyang denies role in recent hacking case in S. Korea

North Korea has denied its alleged involvement in a March cyber attack in South Korea, claiming related "rumors" are aimed at deepening tensions on the peninsula.

Reports that North Korea is behind the March 20 hacking incident that crippled networks of some South Korean banks and broadcasters are a "deliberate provocation," a spokesperson for the General Staff of the (North) Korean People's Army (KPA) was quoted as saying by Pyongyang's propaganda media on Friday.

The unnamed official argued the accusations are similar to those that a North Korean submarine torpedoed a South Korean warship, the Cheonan, in 2010. Forty six South Korean sailors were killed in the attack, which a South Korea-led international probe found attributable to the North.

Linking the recent hacking incident to North Korea is a "deliberate provocation to push the situations on the Korean Peninsula to the extreme, riding on the U.S. move for nuclear warfare," the spokesperson said, according to a Pyongyang radio report monitored in Seoul.

The North Korean military and people are dealing with all inter-Korean issues in a wartime manner and those who spread rumors will face execution without trial, added the spokesperson.

After weeks of investigation, South Korea said earlier this week that North Korea's military-run espionage agency was to blame for the March cyber attack that shut down about 32,000 computers and servers at three banks -- Shinhan, NongHyup and Jeju -- and three TV stations -- KBS, MBC and YTN. Six computers in North Korea were used to access South Korean servers using more than 1,000 IP addresses overseas, investigators said.

(Yonhap News)