In August this year, police in South Korea’s capital Seoul accused their despotic Northern neighbours of hacking into the largest gaming website in the country to falsely acquire points on free online games which can then be sold for cash to other gamers.

It is believed that the practice has managed to raise around $6 million for the asset starved Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, which continues to harbour nuclear ambitions.

It is believed that the activities were carried out in China by South Korean nationals who then sent the money back to the North; however, all of those arrested were educated in North Korean technical institutes.

It is believed the hackers infiltrated the ‘Dungeon and Fighter’ and ‘Lineage’ games, where they created bots which would continue to play games day and night to accumulate points which could then be sold for cash.

Although an armistice was signed by the two countries as long ago as 1953, the two states are still technically at war and despite numerous attempts to improve diplomatic relations, it remains an uneasy peace.

This is not the first time the North has been accused of viral foul play by the South. In 2009 the North was accused of proliferating malware which brought down Southern government agency websites. This is, however, the first time that there have been accusations of online games being targeted.

Relations have teetered on the edge of conflict in recent years after the sinking of the Southern warship the Cheonan in March 2010 (the torpedo which hit the ship was later identified as coming from the North). This was followed by the shelling of a border town on the Southern island of Yeonpyeong in November last year which killed two South Korean marines. However, for now at least it seems as though skirmishes are kept to a virtual world.