MP Ha Te-kung said that the National Intelligence Service (NIS) did not specify which pharmaceutical companies North Korean hackers attacked and how many times it did, but did not cause any damage.
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Microsoft warned last week that hackers working in the Russian and North Korean governments were trying to attack pharmaceutical companies and scientists working to develop the covid-19 vaccine in Canada, France, India, South Korea and the United States.
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Ha and his intelligence colleague Kim Pyung-ki said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had taken various absurd steps on “paranoia” over Covid-19. These include a ban on fishing and salt production, as seawater may be contaminated with coronavirus, or the blocking of about 100,000 tons of rice from China in the port of Ta-lien in northeast China.
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“He is showing anger and signs of stress and is increasingly issuing nonsensical orders,” the MP told reporters.
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Although North Korea, one of the most isolated countries in the world, claims to have not seen a single case of coronavirus infection, according to the South Korean service, it is possible that the infection may have gotten there. The country had trade contacts with China, where a new type of coronavirus appeared at the end of last year. In January, the DPRK closed its borders due to its spread.
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