NEWSLINE AT NOON 12:00 No sign of hacking on Korea′s nuclear facilities

NEWSLINE AT NOON 12:00 Coming up on this Friday edition of Newsline at Noon,... Seoul seeks Beijing′s cooperation in its probe into the recent hacking of South Korean nuclear power plants after confirming that hackers used China-based IP addresses. North Korea figures high again on Washington′s foreign policy agenda following the recent cyber attack on Sony Pictures, which the U.S. blames on the North. Plus,... the government confirms... large companies will face an additional tax next year unless they spend 80 percent of their profits on investment, wage hikes or dividend payments. These stories and more on Newsline at Noon. It′s noon, Friday, December 26th, here in Korea. Thanks for tuning in. Live from Seoul... I′m Eoh Jin-joo. Good to have you with us,.... I′m Mark Broome. Title: No sign of hacking on Korea′s nuclear facilities Our top story this afternoon..... Korea′s state-run nuclear agency remains on high alert amid lingering concerns of a cyber attack after threats were made against reactors. A hacker has been demanding the reactors be shut down, but the government has confirmed that a Christmas Day cyber attack,... which the hacker had threatened,... never materialized. Kim Hyun-bin reports. The government and nuclear plant operators remain on high alert... with a hacker,... possibly linked to North Korea,... threatening to disrupt operations at nuclear facilities in the nation. Suspicions about North Korea′s involvement arose as prosecutors confirmed that the hacker had been using IP addresses in Shenyeng, China, which is used as a base by an unknown number of North Korean hackers. But when asked about Pyonyang′s possible involvement, the investigation team declined to confirm nor deny. Korea has requested judicial assistance from the Chinese government to help conduct an investigation into the IP addresses. China has not yet responded to the request. At the state-run Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Corporation, no signs have been found of any system being compromised, but officials say they will remain in a state of emergency until 8 a.m. local time on Saturday. The suspected hacker threatened to release over 100-thousand pages of data on the nation′s nuclear power plants and conduct a second wave of cyber attacks.... unless the Gori-1, Gori-3 and Wolsong-3 nuclear reactors were shut down for three months... starting on Christmas Day. Scores of documents, including blueprints and internal information on some facilities, have already been leaked... on five different occasions... since last Monday. The Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Corporation manages a total of 23 local nuclear reactors, which supply around 30 percent of the country′s electricity needs. National Security Advisor Kim Kwan-jin emphasized on Thursday that the suspected attacker or group does not have access to control systems for the nuclear facilities, which are separate from the external system that was hacked last week. Kim Hyun-bin, Arirang