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The ministry said it discovered last week that the names, birth
dates and addresses of 997 defectors had been stolen through a
computer infected with malicious software at an agency called
the Hana center, in the southern city of Gumi.
"The malware was planted through emails sent by an internal
address," a ministry official told reporters on condition of
anonymity, due to the sensitivity of the issue, referring to a
Hana center email account.
The Hana center is among 25 institutes the ministry runs around
the country to help some 32,000 defectors adjust to life in the
richer, democratic South by providing jobs, medical and legal
support.
Defectors, most of whom risked their lives to flee poverty and
political oppression, are a source of shame for North Korea. Its
state media often denounces them as "human scum" and accuses
South Korean spies of kidnapping some of them.
The ministry official declined to say if North Korea was
believed to have been behind the hack, or what the motive might
have been, saying a police investigation was under way to
determine who did it.
North Korean hackers have in the past been accused of
cyberattacks on South Korean state agencies and businesses.
North Korea stole classified documents from the South's defense
ministry and a shipbuilder last year, while a cryptocurrency
exchange filed for bankruptcy following a cyberattack linked to
the North.
North Korean state media has denied those cyberattacks.
The latest data breach comes at a delicate time for the two
Koreas which have been rapidly improving their relations after
years of confrontation.
The Unification Ministry said it was notifying the affected
defectors and there were no reports of any negative impact of
the data breach.
"We're sorry this has happened and will make efforts to prevent
it from recurring," the ministry official said.
Several defectors, including one who became a South Korean
television celebrity, have disappeared in recent years only to
turn up later in North Korean state media, criticizing South
Korea and the fate of defectors.
(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Editing by Robert Birsel)
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