Satellite launch: South Korea sanctions North’s hacking group Kimsuky 

South Korea has announced new sanctions against a North Korean hacking group, Kimsuky, it accused of being involved in the North’s latest satellite launch attempt.

“North Korean hacking groups including Kimsuky have been, directly or indirectly, engaged in North Korea’s so-called ‘satellite’ development by stealing cutting-edge technologies on weapons development, satellite and space,” the South Korean ministry said in a statement.

The hackers are known to conduct spearphishing campaigns posing as real journalists, academics, or other individuals with credible links to North Korean policy circles, Seoul’s foreign ministry said.

South Korea’s ministry said the latest sanctions demonstrate Seoul’s will to make North Korea pay for its provocations.

The United States and South Korea also issued a joint advisory saying the group conducts “large-scale” cyber attacks at think tanks, academic institutions and news outlets.

On Wednesday North Korea launched its first spy satellite into space, but that ended in failure with the booster and payload plunging into the sea.

Also Read: North Korean satellite crashes into sea

The U.S., South Korea and Japan said any launch by Pyongyang using ballistic missile technology violates multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions.

North Korea on Thursday rejected condemnation of the launch by Washington and other countries, saying it has a sovereign right to space development and vowing to soon put a spy satellite into orbit.