North Korea's Objectives and Activities in Cyberspace

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK, or North Korea) is a centralized, authoritarian, personalistic dictatorship under the third generation of the Kim dynasty. Despite having suffered a terrible famine and long-term economic deprivation, North Korea has developed its cyber capabilities into a significant and persistent threat and gained notoriety for its past hacking activities, most remarkably the attacks against Sony Pictures Entertainment, cryptocurrency and bank heists, and ransomware attacks. Pyongyang has seriously cultivated its cyber capabilities since the mid-1990s and now possesses the full range of capabilities to conduct computer network operations, including computer network attack, computer network exploitation, computer network defense, influence operations (military information support operations, information operations, and propaganda), cybercrime, cyberterrorism, and probably physical cyberweapons.¹

Kim Jong-il recognized the value of cyber capabilities in the 1990s, which gave North Korea ample time to recruit and train human resources and invest in institutions to develop and sustain the country's assets in cyberspace.² North Korea's priorities in the realm of information and communications technology (ICT) are embedded in the leadership's national strategy, which is composed of two main parts: national security and economic development. This is no different from any other state, except that the type of regime, division of the two Koreas, and external environment present a number of threats, challenges, and opportunities that affect North Korea's cyber posture and activities.

This essay seeks to put North Korea's cyber activities in the context of the leadership's political goals and the country's science and technology policy. After explaining Pyongyang's national strategy and the role of cyber, this essay will turn to the regime's demand for hard currency and the persistent attraction of cybercrime. While North Korean hackers successfully have demonstrated their skills, they also present a dilemma for the leadership. Who is to monitor these expert technicians? To help mitigate this problem, the regime has replicated its "coup-proofing" institutional design found in the security apparatus and the military. Finally, the essay speculates that in the future North Korea might try to employ its cyber capabilities more extensively in the realm of influence operations.

Cyber Capabilities in North Korean Strategy

When North Korea's cyber infrastructure took off in the mid-1990s, the country's survival was at stake. The economic shock and famine in the wake of the Soviet Union's collapse and the death of founding leader Kim Il-sung led Kim Jong-il to adopt military-first politics that served as a type of public administration and crisis management system for regime survival.³ Kim Jong-il emphasized national security and military affairs with the aim of achieving a strong and prosperous country.⁴ To accomplish this goal, Kim Jong-il envisioned North Korea being strong in three dimensions: ideology and politics, military power, and the economy. He stated that "science and technology is a strong impetus for building a strong and prosperous country," while emphasizing "science as an important part of his strategic line to build a powerful socialist state."⁵

Kim Jong-un has continued his father's emphasis on science and technology. Under his rule, North Korea has been following the pyongjin line, which seeks the simultaneous development of nuclear technology (both military and civilian) and the economy. After Kim declared in his 2018 New Year's address that North Korea had "perfected the national nuclear forces," Pyongyang—at least nominally—shifted its emphasis to the economic portion of pyongjin.⁶ Science and technology, including ICT, are considered critical foundations in the leadership's effort to boost economic output and efficiency.⁷ In his report to the 7th Party Congress in May 2016, Kim called for breakthroughs in advanced technologies such as information technology, nanotechnology, biotechnology, new materials technology, new energy technology, and space technology.⁸ North Korea's current five-year economic plan (2016–20) calls on science and information technology as instruments to normalize production in strategic industries.⁹ To foster the development of human resources in ICT, North Korean schools now introduce ICT into the curriculum...