North Korea denies role in smartphone hacking in South

North Korea's state media yesterday blasted South Korea's spy agency for alleging Pyongyang hacked tens of thousands of smartphones in the South using malware disguised in mobile gaming apps.

The South's National Intelligence Service (NIS) said in a report to parliament last week that North Korea attempted to hack more than 20,000 South Korean smartphones from May to September.

The agency said it had worked with the owners of South Korean websites and government officials to remove the applications.

Pyongyang's official internet news provider Uriminzokkiri accused the NIS of fabricating the report to distract public attention from a stand-off over South Korean activists sending leaflets critical of the North's regime across the border in balloons.

"It's [the] usual tactic used by South Korean authorities to fan anti-Pyongyang sentiment whenever they face a political crisis," it said.

The two Koreas had decided recently to restart high-level talks by early this month. South Korea had proposed meeting last week, but the North said the refusal to ban the balloon launches had soured the atmosphere and threatened any future meeting.