Hackers from North Korea Stole US War Plans

The North Korea debacle just got a lot more interesting. Well, it actually got that way back in September of 2016. The joint plans by the United States and South Korea for dealing with North Korea were apparently stolen in a hack of the South Korean military computer network. Details are just now emerging about the hack that happened last year and we’re just now hearing about it.While North Korea’s military prowess is laughable compared to the United States, this breach in security unnecessarily puts lives in danger. Although the files are encrypted and it’s hypothesized that the encryption will not be broken, the mere fact that they have them is unsettling. Spokesmen from South Korea’s defense ministry declined to comment on the grounds that the information is classified, as did our very own Pentagon. The only statement that was released was by Col. Robert Manning saying that the United States is “confident in the security of our operations plans and our ability to deal with any threat from North Korea.” Well, that’s great Robert, but maybe other people aren’t so confident in the security of your plans, especially since they were just stolen. This doesn’t really ratchet up the confidence levels among the populace.While the Pentagon downplays the significance of this breach and assures the public that all is well, retired Lt. Col. Rick Francona states that this indeed a very big deal: “If I had access to the enemy's plans, not only would I know what forces were going to be arrayed against me, I would know where they will be, what weapons they will have, where the command and control nodes will be established -- all critical warfighting information.”

The timing of this news couldn’t be worse as North Korea continues to push the limits of everyone’s patience including China. During the last nuclear test, a town around 150 miles from the test site experienced an earthquake which puzzled many of them. That is until they heard the news that North Korea was lighting off nukes like their own personal Fourth of July again. The fear of fallout from the tests has many Chinese citizens upset and nervous, stating they’d like to move to Beijing or Shanghai if they could. So far, the United States has stayed true to the diplomatic process of dealing with North Korea but as Donald Trump said “Presidents and their administrations have been talking to North Korea for 25 years, agreements made and massive amounts of money paid ... hasn't worked, agreements violated before the ink was dry, makings fools of U.S. negotiators.” While many may not enjoy the President’s tone or brash comments, he isn’t wrong. North Korea has been pushing the limits for 25 years if not more than that seeing as how it was only 67 years ago they invaded their neighbor to the south. The United States officially hasn’t ruled anything out, but amidst these new revelations, it’s hard to say what will happen in the next 6 months.