Seoul beefs up antiterror guard
South Korea is tightening its guard against possible terrorist strikes from the North, placing focus on cyberattacks and assassination of high-ranking North Korean defectors here, according to the government Friday.
The police have recently upgraded security measures for Ko Young-hwan, a North Korean defector and vice president of the state-run Institute for National Security Strategy, sources said.
The number of round-the-clock armed guards assigned to him was increased from two to eight, and his protection was raised to the highest level.
This move came in response to reports that the North Korean regime has ordered his assassination. Ko defected to South Korea in 1991 after serving as a North Korean diplomat at the North’s embassy in Congo.
“I have received threats before, but never has the alert level been this strong,” Ko reportedly told Yonhap.
“It seems that this time, (North Korea) has signaled an actual assault, not just an intimidating threat.”
South Korea’s spy agency National Intelligence Service said Thursday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had ordered greater preparations for terrorist attacks on the South.
The Reconnaissance General Bureau, the North’s intelligence body, is said to be gearing up for cyberattacks on key South Korean websites, physical assaults against government figures and North Korean defectors and explosive attacks in public facilities.
The most plausible scenario is a string of cyberattacks on government, media, and financial companies’ websites, officials said.
“Having performed a nuclear and missile test in January-February, North Korea is highly likely to perform cyberattacks in March-April, before its national party convention slated for May,” the ruling Saenuri Party’s Rep. Lee Cheol-woo said Friday in a radio interview.
He pointed out that it has been the usual practice for the North over the past years to first initiate a military provocation and then move on to cyberattacks in the following months.
As the party’s representative for the parliamentary information committee and a former senior official at the NIS, Lee is recognized as an expert in North Korean affairs and intelligence issues.
It is amid such concerns that South Korea’s military recently upgraded its Information Operation Condition, a five-tier warning system against computer network attacks.
The level, which had been raised from the lowest level five to four after Pyeongyang’s nuclear test in January, was further raised to level three earlier this month, following the North’s ballistic missile launch.
The South Korean Navy’s underwater demolition team carries out an antiterrorist attack drill on a marine ship in the East Sea on Thursday. Navy
The military is also preparing for direct military aggressions.
The Navy and Marine forces carried out a joint drill in the East Sea on Thursday, under the assumption that a North Korean warship kidnapped a South Korean civil ship. The Army, too, conducted a joint drill with the U.S. troops on Friday, working on promptly dispatching the U.S. forces to the Korean Peninsula during contingencies, officials said.
Meanwhile, the ruling conservative party quoted the growing inter-Korean tensions to push for passing the terrorism prevention bill, which has been pending at the National Assembly for months due to opposition resistance.
“The risk of terrorist attacks is very much tangible, which is why it is crucial to pass the terrorism prevention bill urgently,” said the party’s floor leader Rep. Won Yoo-chul.
The main opposition The Minjoo Party of Korea claims that the disputed bill would bestow the spy agency with excessive investigation authority and thus infringe on the people’s rights to privacy.
By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)
The police have recently upgraded security measures for Ko Young-hwan, a North Korean defector and vice president of the state-run Institute for National Security Strategy, sources said.
The number of round-the-clock armed guards assigned to him was increased from two to eight, and his protection was raised to the highest level.
This move came in response to reports that the North Korean regime has ordered his assassination. Ko defected to South Korea in 1991 after serving as a North Korean diplomat at the North’s embassy in Congo.
“I have received threats before, but never has the alert level been this strong,” Ko reportedly told Yonhap.
“It seems that this time, (North Korea) has signaled an actual assault, not just an intimidating threat.”
South Korea’s spy agency National Intelligence Service said Thursday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had ordered greater preparations for terrorist attacks on the South.
The Reconnaissance General Bureau, the North’s intelligence body, is said to be gearing up for cyberattacks on key South Korean websites, physical assaults against government figures and North Korean defectors and explosive attacks in public facilities.
The most plausible scenario is a string of cyberattacks on government, media, and financial companies’ websites, officials said.
“Having performed a nuclear and missile test in January-February, North Korea is highly likely to perform cyberattacks in March-April, before its national party convention slated for May,” the ruling Saenuri Party’s Rep. Lee Cheol-woo said Friday in a radio interview.
He pointed out that it has been the usual practice for the North over the past years to first initiate a military provocation and then move on to cyberattacks in the following months.
As the party’s representative for the parliamentary information committee and a former senior official at the NIS, Lee is recognized as an expert in North Korean affairs and intelligence issues.
It is amid such concerns that South Korea’s military recently upgraded its Information Operation Condition, a five-tier warning system against computer network attacks.
The level, which had been raised from the lowest level five to four after Pyeongyang’s nuclear test in January, was further raised to level three earlier this month, following the North’s ballistic missile launch.
The military is also preparing for direct military aggressions.
The Navy and Marine forces carried out a joint drill in the East Sea on Thursday, under the assumption that a North Korean warship kidnapped a South Korean civil ship. The Army, too, conducted a joint drill with the U.S. troops on Friday, working on promptly dispatching the U.S. forces to the Korean Peninsula during contingencies, officials said.
Meanwhile, the ruling conservative party quoted the growing inter-Korean tensions to push for passing the terrorism prevention bill, which has been pending at the National Assembly for months due to opposition resistance.
“The risk of terrorist attacks is very much tangible, which is why it is crucial to pass the terrorism prevention bill urgently,” said the party’s floor leader Rep. Won Yoo-chul.
The main opposition The Minjoo Party of Korea claims that the disputed bill would bestow the spy agency with excessive investigation authority and thus infringe on the people’s rights to privacy.
By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)
(责任编辑:新闻中心)
相关内容
- 中山古镇:到苏炳添家乡看“村BA”,来一场说走就走的美食之旅
- 开平红丰村:打造全国首个镇级行政区品牌,以产业振兴壮大新型集体经济
- 粤湘合作共建产销平台,广东农业奏响时代强音
- Jeff Bezos commits $10 billion to fight climate change
- 7 Reasons to Explore Boston’s Lesser
- 共同推动雅安职工思想政治引领数智化发展工作做深做实
- Uber looks into solution regarding drivers reportedly gaming for cancellation fees
- Best friends crash a date wearing hilarious disguises
- Trump tries to convince himself everything’s fine in response to FBI raid of Cohen's office:
- Coach jailed for sexual exploitation of underage athlete
- 北方地区真的能种香蕉吗?有人给出了这些建议
- Twitter's Jack Dorsey tweets a bummer of a WikiHow on Valentine's Day
- Concerns arising over Biden's national security team
推荐文章
-
We Cannot Live Without Cryptography!
You're about to wind up your day and use your smartphone to check what's in your smart fridge to dec ...[详细] -
茶园内人头攒动,热闹非凡孩子们自己DIY风筝孩子们在茶园里放风筝3月24日,第十四届蒙顶山茶文化旅游节暨新时代茶产业发展与乡村振兴研讨会新闻系列活动——“爱在骑龙·彩绘天空”第二届风筝节在雅安市名山区 ...[详细]
-
Trump should have accepted Democrats’ border wall offer.
On Saturday night, Ann Coulter, furious over President Donald Trump’s inability to build a massive w ...[详细] -
North Korea crowns leader Kim Jong
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un speaks at the congress of the ruling Workers' Party in Pyongyang on ...[详细] -
The vast majority of our portable electronic gadgets, and the new wave of electric transportation, a ...[详细]
-
Mom's viral rant about cheesecakes is too relatable
Hell hath no fury like a cheesecake mom scorned — that's how the saying goes, right? Kim Copel ...[详细] -
The Onion brought Elon Musk and Malala Yousafzai together on Twitter
In perhaps one of the most 2018 stories imaginable, Malala Yousafzai and Elon Musk were brought toge ...[详细] -
Mark Zuckerberg promises to rebuild Facebook as 'privacy
Mark Zuckerberg has a plan to fix Facebook, and all it will take is completely rebuilding Facebook, ...[详细] -
患者制作香囊“这是我们自己做的香囊,有安神助眠、除湿等功效,价格不贵,10元钱一个。”8月14日,雅安市第四人民医院门诊大厅的“爱心义卖”吸引了医院里不少人的目光。售卖香囊的是该院精神康复科的患者,售 ...[详细]
-
North Korea claims no confirmed cases of coronavirus: WHO
Health workers disinfect a subway station in Pyongyang in this picture from North Korea's Rodong Shi ...[详细]
热点阅读
随机内容
Prime exclusive deal: $50 off Govee floor lamp
Military investigators raid arms procurement agency over alleged military secrets leak
- Pope says England are not 'one
- Trump tries to convince himself everything’s fine in response to FBI raid of Cohen's office:
- 开平红丰村:打造全国首个镇级行政区品牌,以产业振兴壮大新型集体经济
- Moon's push for engagement with N. Korea could create tension with US: CRS report
- A Journey Into the Mind of Stephen King
- Angry alligator knocks out trapper with a headbutt
- 高州作为香蕉老产区,如何重焕生机?