Chinese computer hackers last June gained access to secret South Korean military files on a planned spy plane purchased from the United States, a Seoul lawmaker says.
The hackers accessed information in the defence ministry computers on the plan to buy unmanned Global Hawk aircraft, said Shin Hak-Yong, an opposition Democratic Party lawmaker and a member of parliament's defence committee.
"A government official reported the incident to me. The government has not raised the issue with China yet and is still debating how to handle it," Shin's spokeswoman quoted him, confirming his comments reported in Monday's Chosun Ilbo newspaper.
Seoul last year earmarked 45.2 billion won (40.4 million dollars) for the spy plane purchase following the North's alleged attack on a South Korean warship that left 46 sailors dead in March 2010.
Cross-border tensions escalated further after Pyongyang's shelling attack on a frontier island that killed four South Koreans including two civilians in November.
The aircrafts are capable of monitoring up to 200 kilometers (125 miles) north of the inter-Korean border.
Japan is also considering buying the unmanned spy plane, Chosun said, unnerving China which fears the neighbouring nations could keep watch over its own territory.
Ruling Grand National Party lawmaker Lee Sung-Hun, citing a government report, said 8,183 of 21,899 attempts last year to hack into South Korean government computer systems were made from China.