North Korea accused the US of stealing funds and committing underhanded cybercrime just days after the United Nations accused Pyongyang of conducting cyberattacks on crypto exchanges across countries. According to North Korean officials, the US is a “hacking king, a wire-tapping regime and an expert in covert theft.” North Korea had been accused of stealing cryptocurrencies to fund its nuclear programs.
North’s foreign ministry debunked UN monitors’ recent assertions that North Korean hackers stole crypto.
Although the UN observers did not specifically cite the US, they alleged that the information was obtained from a “member nation” and made reference to data gathered by the American firm Chainalysis on alleged North Korean crypto raids. According to South Korean news outlet EDaily, North Korea’s foreign ministry debunked UN monitors’ recent assertions that North Korean hackers harvested over $50 million between 2020 and mid-2021. In 2020, Kommersant reported that a hacking organization “Kimsuky” had taken advantage of the pandemic using so-called spear-phishing methods to steal top-secret information from Russian defense firms.
North Korean ministry calls claims of crypto theft an “assault” on the country’s sovereignty.
The North Korean ministry alleged that claims of cryptocurrency theft constituted an “assault” on the country’s “sovereignty” – citing them as examples of “disgusting behavior” that the ministry would not condone. It added that Washington is using humanity’s common virtual grounds “to achieve its hegemony objectives.” Pyongyang also claimed that the confessions of American former computer intelligence consultant Edward Snowden — who is known for revealing that US security agencies spied on their own people — substantiated all of this.
