N. Korea Repudiates US Cyber Claims as 'Absurd Slander'

(MENAFN) North Korea forcefully repudiated Washington's allegations of state-sponsored hacking on Sunday, branding the charges a politically driven smear campaign and vowing to defend its national interests by all means necessary, state media reported.

A Foreign Ministry spokesperson, cited by media, dismissed Washington's characterizations of a Pyongyang-orchestrated cyber threat as fabrications engineered to damage the country's global standing — "nothing but an absurd slander to tarnish the image of our country."

The spokesperson leveled sharp criticism at US government bodies, media outlets, and what Pyongyang characterized as influence-peddling organizations, accusing them of deliberately distorting the country's reputation on the world stage.

"Recently, the US government organs, reptile media organs and plot-breeding organizations are trying to spread incorrect understanding of the DPRK to the international community, talking about the non-existent 'cyber threat' from the DPRK," said the spokesperson, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. "One common point in their unilateral assertion is that all cyber-related frauds in different parts of the world are related to us and that the US boasting of the world's best cyber technical power is the world's greatest 'victim.'"

The spokesperson turned the accusation squarely back on Washington, challenging its credibility as an aggrieved party. "It is quite unreasonable for the US, which resorts to indiscriminate cyber attacks on other countries with the global IT infrastructure under its control, to describe itself as the 'victim,'" said the spokesperson, adding that the allegations are an extension of its "hostile policy" toward Pyongyang and are "politically motivated."

Pyongyang stopped short of detailing specific countermeasures but issued a pointed warning that it would "actively" pursue every option at its disposal to safeguard national interests and protect the rights of its citizens.

The rebuke comes amid a sustained pattern of accusations by US authorities linking North Korea to a broad spectrum of illicit digital operations — ranging from large-scale cryptocurrency heists to sprawling networks of clandestine overseas IT workers. As recently as March, the US Treasury Department sanctioned six individuals and two entities tied to North Korean IT worker schemes, alleging they funneled illegal proceeds through digital asset channels.

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