North Korea has conducted espionage against South Korea since the beginning of the Cold War. As the years have passed, Pyongyang has reinforced its stable of human intelligence assets with a robust cyberespionage apparatus to carry out covert action against critical infrastructure, collect intelligence, and steal money for state coffers. Hacker groups operating out of North Korea, such as Lazarus and Kimsuly, enhance Pyongyang’s asymmetrical standing against Seoul. 

This has put Seoul on a defensive counterintelligence footing. Internal leaks have forced South Korea’s security apparatus into damage control mode at a time when it was already trying to crackdown on spy rings heavily rooted in workers unions, defector circles, and activist groups.