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North Korean cyber capability among world’s best, says US Army general

WASHINGTON — North Korea’s asymmetric warfare potential is being bolstered by one of the world’s best and most organised cyber attack capabilities, according to the Army general nominated to command US forces in South Korea.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) guides the multiple-rocket launching drill of women's sub-units under KPA Unit 851, in this undated file photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) April 24, 2014. Photo: Reuters

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) guides the multiple-rocket launching drill of women's sub-units under KPA Unit 851, in this undated file photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) April 24, 2014. Photo: Reuters

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WASHINGTON — North Korea’s asymmetric warfare potential is being bolstered by one of the world’s best and most organised cyber attack capabilities, according to the Army general nominated to command US forces in South Korea.

“This is an area of growth,” Army General Vincent Brooks told the Senate Armed Services Committee during his nomination hearing Tuesday (April 19). “While I would not characterise them as the best in the world, they are among the best in the world and the best-organised. What they are experimenting with... (and) what they are willing to do” has shown boldness and capability, he added.

Although Gen Brooks, the former head of Army Pacific forces, touched on North Korea’s cyber attack skills, he declined during the public hearing to discuss US offensive cyber capabilities against Mr Kim Jong Un’s reclusive regime.

FBI Director James Comey said early last year that his agency had “high confidence” that North Korea orchestrated a 2014 attack against Sony Corp. that led to the leak of information on the company’s employees, internal e-mails and future movies. North Korea’s Reconnaissance General Bureau was behind that hack, Mr James Clapper, US director of national intelligence, also said last year. North Korea rejected the accusations.

‘BADLY OUTDATED’

North Korea’s conventional forces remain forward-deployed near the demilitarised zone separating it from South Korea, and the US has seen a decline in the levels and complexity of training for those troops, Gen Brooks said. Moreover, the north’s military possesses “badly outdated” weapons and its weak economic base means it “lacks the logistical support necessary to sustain a large-scale attack”.

“The majority of its combat systems are antiquated, with many of the weapons systems dating from the 1960s, 70s and 80s,” he said. North Korea’s biggest conventional threat comes from its more than 300 long-range artillery and multiple rocket launchers, which can reach into the south and hit Seoul.

While the United Nations tightened economic restrictions on North Korea earlier this year in retaliation for its missile program and nuclear tests, Gen Brooks said in his written response to the committee’s questions that the US should assume the country “has the technical capability to mount and deliver a nuclear warhead using ballistic missiles”.

The general said he sees no signs of instability in Mr Kim’s regime after the leader succeeded his father Kim Jong Il in 2011, despite several high-level shakeups.

“Compared to his father, Kim Jong Un is more aggressive with advancing the North’s nuclear programme and ignoring international concerns,” Gen Brooks said. “His father was more willing to offer negotiations probably to ease Chinese and other international pressures.” BLOOMBERG

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