The North Korean national flag flutters at half mast at the North Korea embassy in Singapore on December 20, 2011.  North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il has died aged 69 of a heart attack, state media announced, plunging the nuclear-armed and deeply isolated nation into a second dynastic succession.       AFP PHOTO / SIMIN WANG (Photo credit should read SIMIN WANG/AFP/Getty Images)
Official: N. Korean hackers stole US war plans
01:58 - Source: CNN

Story highlights

Rhee Cheol-hee said the documents stolen included the South Korea-US wartime operational plan

About 235 gigabytes worth of military data was stolen by the hackers, Rhee said

Washington CNN  — 

North Korean hackers allegedly stole classified military documents from a South Korean Defense Ministry database in September 2016, according to Rhee Cheol-hee, a member of South Korea’s National Assembly.

Rhee, who belongs to the ruling Democratic Party and sits on the Defense Committee, told CNN on Tuesday that he received information about the alleged hacking from the Defense Ministry.

He said the documents stolen included the South Korea-US wartime operational plan and a document that includes procedures to “decapitate” the North Korean leadership.

About 235 gigabytes worth of military data was stolen by the hackers, Rhee said.

When asked about Rhee’s comments by reporters at a daily press briefing on Tuesday, a spokesman from South Korea’s Defense Ministry declined to comment, saying