North Korea tried to disrupt efforts to make Covid vaccine, says Seoul

South Korean lawmaker says there was ‘no damage from the hacking attempts’

File image: South Korea’s allegations against Pyongyang come at a time when the country is dealing with its third wave of the pademic (Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

North Korean hackers unsuccessfuly tried to disrupt South Korea’s efforts to develop a coronavirus vaccine, according to Seoul’s intelligence agency.

South Korean MPs told a press briefing on Friday details of the attempted sabotage uncovered by the National Intelligence Agency (NIS.)

Ha Tae-Keung, a member of the parliamentary intelligence committee, said the agency did not specify how many and which drugmakers were targeted but “there was no damage from the hacking attempts".

The revelation came after Microsoft said early this month that hackers working for the Russian and North Korean governments had tried to break into the networks of seven pharmaceutical companies and vaccine researchers in Canada, France, India, South Korea and the United States.

The closed-door briefings by the NIS, which shares intelligence and analysis with counterparts among key neighbours, provide rare public access to information about the reclusive North.

Mr Ha and another MP Kim Byung-kee said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had taken some "unreasonable" actions due to Covid-19 "paranoia."

They said those actions included banning fishing and salt production because of fears that seawater might have been contaminated with the virus, and stranding some 110,000 tons of rice from China in the northeastern Chinese port of Dalian.

"He has been expressing emotional excess, anger and signs of stress, and increasingly giving unreasonable orders," Mr Ha told reporters.

North Korea has not confirmed any coronavirus infections, but the NIS had said an outbreak there cannot be ruled out as the country had active trade and in-person exchanges with China before closing its border in late January.

Pyongyang has not issued any official response to the recent US presidential election, but the government has urged all its overseas diplomatic missions to exercise caution and not "provoke" the United States, South Korean MP Mr Kim said.

South Korea has also been grappling with a third wave of the pandemic that appears to be worsening despite tough new social distancing measures. On Friday, it reported 569 new cases, following its biggest Covid-19 spike since March on Thursday.

South Korea has reported a total of 32,887 Covid cases and 516 deaths during the pandemic.