SEOUL, March 8 -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has recently hacked smartphones of dozens of South Korean key government officials to wiretap text messages and voice calls, Yonhap news agency reported on Tuesday citing South Korea's spy agency.

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) held an emergency meeting to examine preparations of government agencies against potential DPRK cyber terror threats along with 14 ministries, including the office for government policy coordination, the financial regulator and defense and science ministries.

Choi Jong-il, third deputy chief of the NIS in charge of industrial intelligence and cyber security affairs who convened the meeting, reported on the hacking attacks.

The DPRK had conducted hacking attacks against smartphones of tens of key South Korean government officials between late February and early March, taking voice calls and text messages, according to the NIS.