Last December, an unidentified hacker stole the personal information of 997 North Korean refugees, shaking the refugee community in South Korea.

According to the Ministry of Unification, the refugees’ names, birthdays, and addresses were stolen from a personal computer at a Hana Center, an institute run by the Ministry where North Korean refugees can receive help after arriving in South Korea, located in North Gyeongsang province.

For North Korean refugees, vulnerabilities in the computer system of the institution that holds so much of their information raised serious concerns, as their information could put their family members back in North Korea in grave danger if it gets in the hands of the North Korean government. 

“A lot of us couldn’t live our daily lives after hearing about the news. Anything that is connected to the safety of our family members is a crucial matter to us,” said Heo Kwang-il, a North Korean refugee and chairman of the Committee for the Democratization of North Korea.