Korean hackers stage social media attacks via Twitter and YouTube

Tensions are always fraught between North and South Korea. Now hackers on both sides of the border could be inflaming the situation further with a series of online attacks.

The Guardian reports on a group of South Korean hackers who recently hijacked the official North Korean Twitter account, YouTube account and website. The group posted messages criticising the North’s leader, Kim Jong-il, and his son, Kim Jong-un, who is widely believed to be lined up as the communist state’s next premier.

Tweets posted by the hackers reportedly included a call to “point guns towards traitor Kim Jong-il wasting fortunes on nuclear and missile weapons instead of feeding his people” and “Let’s create a new world by driving out rebels Kim Jong-il and his son Kim Jong-un!” Then on Saturday, the group accessed the North Korean YouTube account to publish a satirical animation criticising the regime to the soundtrack of Nintendo’s Super Mario World.

Now North Korean hackers have reportedly retaliated by conducting a DDOS attack on dcinside.com, the website the South Korean hackers reportedly used to organise themselves. Following the attack, the website posted the aggressive message “Come out, Jong-il and Jong-un! Let’s fight!”

The skirmishes come at a time when North Korea has been calling for fresh talks to ease tensions between the two states. South Korea has rejected these calls however.