S. Korea cyberattacks blamed on Pyongyang

SEOUL, July 8 (UPI) -- Recent cyberattacks that disrupted dozens of South Korean Web sites appear to have been orchestrated by North Korea, sources said Wednesday.

Citing unnamed sources in the South Korean parliament, the Yonhap news agency said the country's National Intelligence Service suspects North Korea or its sympathizers disrupted Web sites run by government agencies, banks and Internet portals.

The sources said the cyberattacks were first noticed Tuesday night. Some South Korean lawmakers were reportedly briefed by intelligence officials, who mentioned Pyongyang as the suspected attackers. Yonhap said the NIS will report to the parliamentary intelligence committee on the matter Thursday.

The news agency said the distributed denial-of-service attacks targeted the Internet home pages of Seoul's foreign and defense ministries as well as the South Korean presidential office.