SEOUL, August 4 (AJP) - North Korea on Tuesday criticized a joint alert issued by about a dozen countries including Japan, South Korea, and the U.S. over its alleged illegal earning of foreign currency through computer and technology workers, dismissing it as "false information."
In a statement carried by the state-run [North] Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), a spokesperson for North Korea's Foreign Ministry said the alert by the U.S. and its allied countries was a "stereotyped political accusation" intended to tarnish the country's image.
The spokesperson also dismissed "repeated claims" by members of the Multinational Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT), an independent international coalition that monitors and reports on violations of United Nations (UN) sanctions against North Korea, as "unreliable and false."
The spokesperson argued it was "absurd" for the U.S., which the statement said monopolizes key cyber resources and operates the world's largest cyber force, to accuse other countries of posing "cyber threats."
Tuesday's statement came just days after the U.S. and 10 other countries issued the alert last Friday accusing North Korean information technology (IT) workers of generating revenue to help fund Pyongyang's weapons of mass destruction programs.
"North Korea relies upon a network of skilled Information Technology (IT) workers, deployed within and outside of North Korea, to obtain false identities and remotely earn income to fund North Korea's unlawful nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs," the alert released by the U.S. State Department said, urging governments, companies and institutions worldwide to strengthen identity checks and step up measures.
In a statement carried by the state-run [North] Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), a spokesperson for North Korea's Foreign Ministry said the alert by the U.S. and its allied countries was a "stereotyped political accusation" intended to tarnish the country's image.
The spokesperson also dismissed "repeated claims" by members of the Multinational Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT), an independent international coalition that monitors and reports on violations of United Nations (UN) sanctions against North Korea, as "unreliable and false."
The spokesperson argued it was "absurd" for the U.S., which the statement said monopolizes key cyber resources and operates the world's largest cyber force, to accuse other countries of posing "cyber threats."
Tuesday's statement came just days after the U.S. and 10 other countries issued the alert last Friday accusing North Korean information technology (IT) workers of generating revenue to help fund Pyongyang's weapons of mass destruction programs.
"North Korea relies upon a network of skilled Information Technology (IT) workers, deployed within and outside of North Korea, to obtain false identities and remotely earn income to fund North Korea's unlawful nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs," the alert released by the U.S. State Department said, urging governments, companies and institutions worldwide to strengthen identity checks and step up measures.
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