North Korea has condemned allegations by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that a hacking group linked to Pyongyang was responsible for the theft of $6 billion from cryptocurrency exchange Binance, describing the accusation as a “grave political provocation”.
Gatekeepers News reports that Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, issued the condemnation on Tuesday in a statement published by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
Kim dismissed the FBI’s claim as “absurd rhetoric and nothing new”, saying it was part of Washington’s continued efforts to portray North Korea as responsible for cybercrimes worldwide.
“It is a grave political provocation against the DPRK that the US misleads the international public opinion as if all the cyber crimes in different parts of the world are our deeds,” she said, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The FBI had said on Saturday that a North Korea-affiliated hacking group known as TraderTraitor was responsible for the attack on Binance.
The group was also blamed for the theft of $1.5 billion from cryptocurrency platform Bybit in February last year, an incident that was considered the largest cryptocurrency theft before the Binance attack.
Kim described the latest allegation as an attempt to tarnish North Korea’s international reputation and undermine its sovereignty.
“This is a sinister attempt to damage the international image of the DPRK and undermine its dignity and national prestige and another grave violation of the sovereignty of the DPRK,” she said.
She added that Pyongyang remained opposed to cybercrime, insisting that the country’s government consistently rejected malicious activities in cyberspace.
“It is the consistent policy stand of the DPRK government to resolutely oppose all sorts of malicious acts in cyberspace,” Kim said.
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by daily trading volume, was at the centre of the latest controversy after news of the hacking attack triggered a sharp decline in the prices of several major cryptocurrencies on Friday.
Following the FBI’s statement on Saturday, US President Donald Trump expressed uncertainty over North Korea’s alleged involvement in the attack.
“I’m not concerned. We’re learning about it. We don’t know if it’s North Korea,” Trump told reporters at his residence in Florida.
Trump has repeatedly sought engagement with nuclear-armed North Korea since returning to office and has indicated that he was open to meeting Kim Jong Un this year.
However, the diplomatic overtures have received no response from Pyongyang.
Kim Yo Jong said the latest allegations further demonstrated Washington’s hostility towards North Korea.
“[The allegations] confirmed Washington’s hostile attitude toward the DPRK once again,” she said.
“We have issues to reconsider in diverse aspects as regards the very unpleasant US hostile attitude,” she added.
