Foreign Ministry: Average of 90 Cyberattacks Per Day... Minister Briefed After Technical Assessment

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained regarding criticisms over its delayed disclosure and reporting of the hacking incident at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy that cyberattacks occur too frequently, making technical assessment the initial priority.

During a regular briefing, Ministry Spokesperson Park Il stated that joint investigations with relevant agencies have been underway since the initial detection of the hacking in February. He said, "This investigation required technical expertise, taking about two months until April, after which the results were reported to the minister."

This explanation accounts for the two-month period leading up to the report to the minister as being due to the technical expertise required for the investigation.

Spokesperson Park added, "Because technical judgments are necessary regarding abnormal access, that work was prioritized," and noted, "Cyberattack attempts against the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a security institution, occur very frequently, and the frequency increases every year."

He explained that cyberattack attempts against the ministry reached 14,674 cases in 2024, averaging 40 per day, and 17,500 cases in 2025, averaging 48 per day. For this year, up to the end of June alone, such attempts reached 16,254 cases, averaging 90 per day.

Spokesperson Park stated, "We do not report to the minister every single time such frequent abnormal attempts occur," conveying the explanation that investigations and analyses cannot be conducted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs alone and must be carried out jointly with relevant agencies, which took time.

He also mentioned measures to strengthen security systems after failing to detect this hacking for 10 months, stating, "When selecting (software) vendors, we will participate in bidding by placing high importance on whether they are equipped with robust security systems, rather than solely considering price factors."

It is estimated that the hacking of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy, which took place over a 10-month period from April of last year to February of this year, leaked up to 10,000 records including names, IDs, and email addresses, encompassing all South Korean diplomats.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.