Russian hackers threaten South Korea, claim cyberattack on granary storing Ukrainian grain

A group of purported Russian hackers declared it would target South Korean institutions in response to recent comments by Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun that Seoul could send a group of military observers to Ukraine to monitor North Korean troop movements.

The group, which warned that its “specialists” have “started work on South Korea,” also claimed it has already hacked equipment at a granary in Naju, South Jeolla.

The group said it chose this granary because it stores grain from Ukraine.

In a video it recorded on Oct. 31, the group showed how it gained unauthorized access to the granary’s digital controls for loading grain elevators, which it said “were loaded for a very long time, and then just poured tons of grain onto the ground.”

“We left all the equipment turned on at full power,” it added.

The group’s claims could not immediately be verified.

The group said it decided to target South Korean institutions after Kim expressed his support for “sending military experts to Ukraine to analyze the actions of North Korean troops if they are involved in hostilities.”

The group also expressed its anger that U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had promised the United States “will protect South Korea with all types of weapons” and that the participation of North Korea in the Ukrainian conflict “could lead to new forms of support [for Kyiv] from the collective West.”

In an interview with KBS, cybersecurity expert Choi Sang-myung noted that hackers could “inflict physical damage by disabling machines or causing equipment to malfunction.”

The Korea Internet and Security Agency also issued a warning recently that the risk of hackers targeting South Korea “has increased following the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia” and urged companies to adopt precautions.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]