(AFP) – Activist hackers appeared Thursday to have infiltrated North Korea’s official news website and its accompanying Twitter and Flickr feeds, posting unflattering images of leader Kim Jong-Un.
The China-based website of Uriminzokkiri, which distributes news and propaganda from the North’s state media, was inaccessible and its companion feeds attacked and defaced.
On Twitter, the Uriminzokkiri account’s profile photo was changed to one of a couple dancing the Tango, and a series of tweets read “Hacked” and “Tango Down”.
The male dancer was wearing a Guy Fawkes mask — a trademark of the “Anonymous” hacktivist group.
The website’s Flickr page showed a number of images, including one which simply read “We Are Anonymous” and a mock-up “Wanted” poster featuring Kim with a pig’s nose and ears and a Mickey Mouse tattoo on his chest.
Uriminzokkiri is best known for posting propaganda videos excoriating the United States and including images like the White House framed in the crosshairs of a sniper’s rifle sight.
Thursday’s attack came amid soaring military tensions on the Korean peninsula with Pyongyang, Seoul and Washington engaged in a bout of high-stakes brinkmanship.
It also followed a major cyber attack that crashed the computer networks at South Korean TV broadcasters and banks last month and was widely blamed on North Korean hackers.
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