South Korea's defense ministry said Friday it will earmark 246.5 billion won (US$218 million) to enhance its cybersecurity over five years to fend off growing threats from North Korean hackers, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.

The ministry's plan to develop technology and train manpower for cyberwarfare was included in its midterm defense plan for 2018 to 2022.

The North has continued to improve its cyberwarfare capabilities. Most recently, its hackers are suspected of mounting cyberattacks on the South Korean military intranet in September last year.

Some military data, reportedly including some confidential information on the South Korea-U.S. joint operational plan, were leaked, as malicious codes penetrated some computers in the intranet system.

After a preliminary investigation, the defense ministry announced that North Korea is assumed to be behind the hacking.

Its officials said a related probe is still under way to figure out whether additional information was leaked.