Report: NKorean Army Suspected Over Cyberattacks

South Korean conservative activists march as they hold a mock coffin and portraits of North Korean...

South Korean conservative activists march as they hold a mock coffin and portraits of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, and what protesters say is a portrait of his son Kim Jong Un during a rally denouncing cyber terror and missile launch in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, July 10, 2009. Cyber attacks that caused a wave of Web site outages in the U.S. and South Korea used 86 IP addresses in 16 countries, South Korea's spy agency told lawmakers Friday, amid suspicions North Korea was behind the effort.

(Lee Jin-man/AP Photo)

A North Korean army lab of hackers was ordered to "destroy" South Korean communications networks — evidence the isolated regime was behind cyberattacks that paralyzed South Korean and American Web sites — news reports said Saturday, citing an intelligence briefing.

Members of the parliamentary intelligence committee have said in recent days that the National Intelligence Service has also pointed to a North Korean boast last month that it was "fully ready for any form of high-tech war."

The spy agency told lawmakers Friday that a research institute affiliated with the North's Ministry of People's Armed Forces received an order to "destroy the South Korean puppet communications networks in an instant," the mass-circulation JoongAng Ilbo newspaper reported.

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The paper, citing unidentified members of parliament's intelligence committee, said the institute, known as Lab 110, specializes in hacking and spreading malicious programs.

The Ministry of People's Armed Forces is the secretive nation's defense ministry.

The NIS — South Korea's main spy agency — said it couldn't confirm the report. Calls to several key intelligence committee members went unanswered Saturday.

The agency, however, issued a statement late Saturday saying it has "various evidence" of North Korean involvement, though has yet to reach a conclusion.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency carried a similar report, saying the NIS obtained a North Korean document issuing the June 7 order. The report, quoting an unidentified senior ruling party official, said the North Korean institute is affiliated with the North Korean People's Army.

The state-run Korea Communications Commission said Friday that it had identified and blocked five Internet Protocol, or IP, addresses in five countries used to distribute computer viruses that caused the wave of Web site outages, which began in the U.S. on July 4.