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N.K. website hacking prompts ‘pro-North’ witch hunt

A group of international hackers claimed to have broken into North Korea’s state-run websites and revealed member information on Thursday, a move that triggered an online witch hunt for people suspected of “pro-Pyongyang” propensity.

Hacker activist group Anonymous is believed to have hacked the North’s Uriminzokkiri (Within our nations), a propaganda website known for posting images and stories promoting the communist regime. Anonymous claimed to have procured 15,000 user records hosted on Uriminzokkiri and other sites, although this could not be confirmed.

The hacker group then posted information of the people who have accessed the website, including e-mail addresses, IDs, passwords, nationality, and gender. While most of the members were from overseas, some 1,600 users have accessed the Uriminzokkiri via Korean Internet Protocol addresses, according to local dailies.

Major Korean online humor website Ilgan Best (Daily Best), which is notorious for the far-right views of its members, declared that Anonymous’ post is a list of North Korean spies and started hunting down the personal information of the people on the list.

Daily Best members then uploaded information of anyone suspected to have used North Korean websites, and reported them as spies to the authorities.

Over 100 “spy report” articles have been posted on the website as of Friday. “This is our chance. Let’s eradicate all spies!” said one member of Daily Best.

The reckless moves by the far-right website aroused concerns about human rights violation. Many are saying it is unjust to mark people as “pro-North” or “spies” when the information released by Anonymous has yet to be verified.

A professor from Korea University said even if the suspected users of Uriminzokkiri have expressed pro-Pyongyang sentiments, it is a “severe infringement of democracy” to violate their human rights by invading their privacy.

By Yoon Min-sik

(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)