Reuters reported the details had been posted on a number of unspecified websites, reporting that many of the names were those of US Army personnel in the 25th Infantry and the 3rd Marine Divisions stationed in South Korea. At the time of publishing the US Department of Defense had not responded to V3's request for comment on the report.
The motive for the attack remains unknown and it is unclear whether the hack was state sponsored or enacted by a private group. However, the use of the data dump tactic indicates the attack was likely done by a politically motivated group, which often post stolen information online to 'shame' their victims.
The data dump is the latest in a slew of cyber attacks hitting Korea. The attacks began on the anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War, when numerous websites in both North and South Korea were either knocked offline with distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks or publicly defaced.
Several posts on Twitter and Pastebin have since appeared claiming hackers operating under the Anonymous collective's banner are responsible for the attack, listing them as being part of a larger #OpNorthKorea.
Despite the basic nature of the attacks, many will fear they will exacerbate the already tense political situation in the region, reigniting the tit-for-tat cyber argument between North and South Korea.
Tensions between the two countries peaked in March this year when a wave of cyber attacks paralysed several South Korean banks' and broadcasters' computer systems. The attacks are believed to have stemmed from North Korea and led to international concerns the incident could result in an outright hacking war between the two nations.
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