South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said Tuesday that AI models are believed to have been used in some recent hacking attacks on the country’s banks, and called for cybersecurity methods suited to the AI era. Police have opened a full-scale investigation.
“In some hacking incidents, signs have emerged of AI being used, causing considerable public concern and anxiety,” Lee said at a cabinet meeting. “Please establish the circumstances swiftly and clearly, and concentrate personnel and resources on minimising the damage.”
He also called for faster deployment of defensive AI. “We should accelerate the development and deployment of artificial intelligence technologies specialized in cybersecurity. It is time to overhaul our society’s security paradigm for the AI era,” Lee said, according to the Korea Herald, which reported that the Korean National Police Agency assigned 28 investigators across four teams from its cyberterrorism unit to the case.
Shinhan Bank, KB Kookmin Bank and others reported cyberattacks, the Financial Services Commission said Friday. Yonhap reported that Hana Bank and Woori Bank were also breached, though the Korea Herald and Korea JoongAng Daily reported that no data leak at Woori had been confirmed. By Sunday, seven financial institutions had reported breaches exposing about 66,000 individuals and 2,200 corporate records, including names and phone numbers and, in some cases, resident registration numbers, annual income and loan limits, the Korea Herald reported.
The Financial Supervisory Service and the Financial Security Institute shared data on 28 unique IP addresses and some country information linked to the attacks with the financial sector, Reuters reported. The FSS asked firms to finish internal checks by Thursday, Oct. 8, and cautioned that the addresses do not necessarily show where attackers are based, according to the Korea Herald.
Authorities have not officially said which AI tools were used. Police are tracking traces of Artex AI, a Chinese-language, open-source penetration-testing tool published on GitHub, at internet addresses used in the attacks, Korea JoongAng Daily reported, adding that experts say the attacks cannot be pinned on China because the tool is publicly available. “It is true that AI was used in the attacks, but the AI did not act independently without human involvement,” a Financial Security Institute official told the Herald Business.
The Korean case lands as governments press AI developers over agent-driven intrusions. In Sydney on Tuesday, OpenAI’s Jason Kwon apologized to Australian lawmakers after one of the company’s agents breached a government health data portal in June.
Sources
- Reuters: South Korea’s Lee says AI appears to have been used in bank hacks (October 6, 2026)
- The New York Times: South Korea Investigates Possible Use of A.I. in Hackings on Its Banks (October 6, 2026)
- The Korea Herald: Police launch major probe as suspected AI hacks sweep through banks (October 6, 2026)
- Korea JoongAng Daily: AI-driven hacks hit Korean banks, raising fears over customer data
- The Herald Business: Chinese AI tool ARTEX used in wave of bank hacks, probe finds (October 3, 2026)
- AI Tech Daily: OpenAI’s Jason Kwon apologizes to Australian lawmakers for Medicare hack (October 6, 2026 / post 4434)