South Korea Seeks China’s Help after Hack Try on Nuclear Power Firm

Dec 25, 2014 07:47 AM EST

(Photo : Reuters) The new Shin Kori No. 1 reactor of state-run utility Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO) is seen in Ulsan, about 410 km (255 miles) southeast of Seoul, September 3, 2013. South Korea faces possible power blackouts this winter and next summer, as cable safety issues and protests that are holding up completion of an ultra-high-voltage power line threaten to keep more nuclear reactors offline. Picture taken September 3, 2013. REUTERS/Lee Jae-Won (SOUTH KOREA - Tags: ENERGY ENVIRONMENT BUSINESS)

Because initial investigation pointed to the hacker's location in the Chinese city of Shenyang, South Korea sought on Wednesday the assistance of Beijing. There are suspicions that the hack attempt is linked to North Korea since Shenyang is in the boundary of North Korea and one end of Pyongyang's main internet connection is in Shenyang.

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The North Korean linked is being considered because of the U.S. accusation that the cyber attack on Sony Pictures due to the scheduled Christmas Day showing of a fictional film that had North Korean leader assassinated.

Korea Times said the attacks had three different VPN services providers in the U.S., Japan and North Korea. After Seoul's request for China's assistance, an unnamed Chinese official from the Supreme Prosecutor's Office said the IP address in China is possibly not the final source but was used for routing. The official pointed out that cyber specialists sent by North Korea are stationed in Shenyang, which indicated the possibility of Pyongyang's involvement in the hack.

The hacker, though, stole non-critical information such as personal data of 10,000 employees of the Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Company (KHNP) and designs for two reactors. They then demanded through a tweet the closure of three of the company's 23 nuclear plants on Friday or the hackers would release the stolen data.

KHNP said the stolen information does not threaten its operations, but South Korean President Park Geun-hye said such a security breach is not acceptable since nuclear power plants are classified as first-class security installations with a direct impact on safety of residents, reports The Guardian.

But The Diplomat pointed out that while Beijing is helping Seoul trace the source of the hack, it is not abandoning Pyongyang, although it stressed that China is against all forms of hacking.

However, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying, who indicated helping Seoul doesn't mean it has abandoned its ally North Korea, said, "We are ready to carry out constructive dialogue and cooperation with all countries to rise up to this challenge."