Phony news sites spreading pro-Beijing propaganda in S. Korea, says country’s spy service
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The NIS busted and closed down 38 such websites, all found to have been carrying pro-China messages.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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SEOUL - South Korea’s spy service suspects Chinese agencies are behind the operation of fake websites posing as well-known South Korean news outlets to spread propaganda.
The National Intelligence Service (NIS) said on Monday that Chinese press relations agencies Haimai and Haixun created phishing websites that look like websites of South Korean news outlets, then generated a series of stories it said are “pro-China” and “anti-US”.
Some examples of stories circulated by the phony news websites included ones disparaging South Korea’s participation in the United States President Joe Biden-led Summit for Democracy, and others praising the Chinese government’s control of the Covid-19 pandemic, it alleged.
The NIS believes that the websites made by the Chinese agencies were a part of the Beijing’s covert online influence operations.
The NIS busted and closed down 38 such websites, all found to have been carrying pro-China messages.
The NIS said it has asked for the cooperation of social media sites where the Chinese-generated propaganda stories are being circulated to take them down. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
