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Hackers mock North Korea heir-apparent birthday boy

Kim minor gets roasted

Hackers compromised North Korean media profiles on Saturday to mock the country's heir apparent, Kim Jong Un, on his birthday.

North Korea's YouTube channel was commandeered to post satirical footage depicting a caricature of Kim Jong Un at the wheel of a luxury sports car and out of control, mowing down women and children at the side of the road.

The hermit kingdom's Twitter account was also compromised to post criticism of current leader, Kim Jong Il, for lavishing cash on a nuclear weapons programme when "while 3 million people are starving and freezing to death". Other fake micro-blogging updates urged an armed uprising.

It's unclear who carried out the string of attacks, but hackers from South Korea are the obvious primary suspects. Several members of a South Korean internet forum, Dcinside, have claimed responsibility for the prank, Reuters reports.

Kim Jong Un, 28, appeared at a military parade dressed in a general's uniform last September. Observers saw this as a clear sign that he would take over from his father, Kim Jong Il, once Dear Leader kicks the bucket.

Official state media omitted any reports of celebratory events to mark the younger Kim’s birthday. It seems the occasion was marked only via the broadcast of patriotic radio tunes by state radio, about the only media outlet most ordinary North Korean citizens can access. Internet access in the country is reportedly restricted to senior government officials. ®

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