Japan Declared A Cyberwar Against S. Korea
South Korea issued a cyber terrorism warning Sunday for its overseas diplomatic missions after the Foreign Ministry’s Internet website was attacked by a hacker.
The Internet homepage of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade was down for hours on March 20, following an attack by a suspected Japanese hacker, a ministry official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The attack affected the homepage only, and no sensitive information was leaked, the official said.
The Foreign Ministry, joined by telecommunications authorities, has formed a task force to investigate the incident and prevent a recurrence of similar attacks, he said.
The attack occurred as South Korea and Japan are engulfed in a territorial row over Tokto, a group of islets controlled by Seoul, which is also claimed by Tokyo. The islets in the East Sea, or the Sea of Japan, is called Takeshima in Japan.
Tensions rose sharply after a Japanese prefecture legislature adopted “Takeshima Day” on its calendar last week to boost its claim to the islets. Japan’s central government refused to intervene.
Japan ruled the Korean Peninsula as a colony from 1910-45