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Technology can create very different worlds depending on the motives of users.

When utilized for positive purposes, technology can greatly enhance and improve the quality of human lives, making them more comfortable.

However, technology can turn into an ominous threat to humanity if individuals exploit it with malicious intent.

The use of technology in the two Koreas differs significantly.

South Korea has primarily utilized digital technology for industrial applications, establishing itself as a highly connected society. In contrast, North Korea has prioritized the use of digital technology over the past decades to develop cyber weapons.

Their divergent investments over the decades have resulted in a new form of warfare — North Korea is now known for hosting the world's most infamous hackers, while South Korea is susceptible to becoming a target of North Korea's cyberattacks.

North Korea has weaponized cyberspace and disrupted the South with ceaseless clandestine cyber operations. Its cyberattacks took various forms. North Korea steals valuable, sensitive data, encrypts data to make it inaccessible and destroy assets through unauthorized access.

Cyberattacks are becoming a growing security threat to South Korea.

"While delivering lectures on cybersecurity, I have encountered approximately two distinct groups of individuals sharing their experiences with cyberattacks," Kwon Ho-cheon, the founder and chief executive research director of Global ICT Lab, told The Korea Times.

"One group of individuals shared incidents of their computers or mobile devices being hacked, while another group claimed that they or their organizations had never experienced attacks from external cyber actors. I think the latter group is more likely to be wrong about their experiences, because North Korean hackers infiltrated almost all South Korean entities, so there are very few who were not hacked. The only difference is that they just didn't know they were hacked."

Kwon, the author of "Modern Warfare: ICT Determines the Winners and Losers," released in 2021, said it is no surprise that people do not know they were targeted or received cyberattacks, since many cyberattacks go unnoticed.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un smiles during a New Year's event at Mangyongdae Children's Palace in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Jan. 1. Yonhap

Hacking attacks have become a regular occurrence in South Korea.

According to the National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) operated by the National Intelligence Service (NIS), South Korea's public sector was the target of 1.56 million hacking attempts by international hacking groups between January and Nov. 1 of last year.

"The NIS promptly and successfully detected and traced almost all cyberattack attempts," the intelligence agency told The Korea Times in a written message. "We have strengthened a partnership with private sector cybersecurity firms, and also teamed up with our allies abroad to prevent and respond to North Korea's malicious cyber activities."

The NCSC (National Cyber Security Center) is tasked with safeguarding government offices and state-run companies from cyberattacks and managing responses to such incidents. Its private sector counterpart is the Korea Internet and Security Agency (KISA), which oversees cyber infiltrations targeting the private sector and offers related guidance.

According to the NCSC, 80 percent of all cyberattacks on the public sector are attributed to hackers from North Korea and China.

The cyberattack figures for the public sector last year revealed a 30-percent increase compared to 2022.

Kwon said cyberattacks are a much more serious security threat than nuclear bombs.

"Nations possess nuclear weapons basically for deterrence," he said. "They build up nuclear bombs as a security guarantee to protect their nations from enemies and few use them in real war. Likewise, I think North Korea developed nuclear weapons as part of its negotiating tactic, and it plays the nuclear card to gain more concessions from the United States or South Korea during negotiations. Few countries, if their leaders are sane, would attempt to detonate nuclear weapons because they know the consequences."

Compared to the symbolic nature of nuclear weapons, cyberattacks occur and can have a much more detrimental impact on the victims than other forms of weaponry.

"If you detonate nuclear bombs in the air, everybody knows who did that," he said. "Unlike nuclear explosions, cyberattacks are difficult to trace if hackers are sophisticated. Some attacks go unnoticed, so the victims don't even know they were attacked."

Shin So-hyun, a research fellow at the Asan Institute for Public Studies in Seoul, said there are no organizations that can possibly trace or prevent all cyberattacks against them.

"This is because of the covert nature of cyberattacks," she said.

"For victims, cyber resiliency matters. Resilient organizations can effectively respond to cyberattacks and recover quickly from them. So, most countries use a two-track approach on cybersecurity. They try to prevent cyberattacks on one hand, and on the other hand, they try to build a system that can help them recover from the attacks quickly after their systems were infiltrated."

Cyber Bureau of the National Police Agency is seen in this 2016 file photo. Korea Times file

In a sense, cyberspace is a level playing field where state actors considered less capable militarily and financially can potentially outmaneuver their more advanced adversaries. This is exemplified by impoverished nations with limited financial resources, like North Korea, being able to achieve success against technologically superior opponents using cyber weapons such as malware and ransomware.

Because of its unique trait, cyberspace can create a blind spot for countries with advanced digital technologies. Highly connected countries like South Korea are vulnerable to cyberattacks from North Korea which lack advanced IT infrastructure.

This creates the irony of digital technology.

"In the 1990s, when the internet became widely accessible to the public, policymakers and business leaders in South Korea, much like those in many other advanced countries, started contemplating how to leverage the technology to enhance their economies," Kwon said, stressing that the priority was given on using the internet for industrial purposes.

"But there was another group of countries, mostly autocratic countries like North Korea and Russia, which saw the internet era as an opportunity to upgrade their weapons systems. They were interested in using the technology to build formidable weapons to attack their enemies."

This fundamental difference in attitude toward technology created a new world order in cyberspace.

Decades later, the countries that used digital technology for military purposes came to develop destructive cyber weapons, whereas nations that prioritized the industrial use of digital technology became richer and more connected. These highly networked countries became vulnerable to cyberattacks.

South Korea's excessive focus on the industrial applications of digital technology, without adequate investments in cybersecurity, came at a price, Kwon said.

"Until recently, a lot of attention has been paid to upgrading and developing network systems, but the public sector, as well as the private sector, were almost ignorant of the importance of cybersecurity. They didn't invest in cybersecurity," he said.

He urged policymakers to shift their mindset toward digital technology, especially as artificial intelligence has become prevalent in almost all industries.

"When a new technology emerges, it is crucial to consider how it can be utilized for societal improvement and further development. Simultaneously, it is essential to assess whether the technology could be potentially misused for military purposes. This thought process is necessary, particularly as countries such as Russia, North Korea, and China are actively incorporating AI to enhance their weapons systems," he said.

If not prepared, he said South Korea will surely face another security threat — this time a much more lethal one — as AI-related technology continues to evolve.