SEOUL, Aug 4 - North Korea has rejected a recent U.S.-led cyber warning as an unfounded political attack designed to damage its international standing and to provide a pretext for applying pressure on sovereign states, state-run media KCNA reported on Tuesday citing a foreign ministry spokesperson.
The spokesperson framed the multinational alert - described by the official as a "joint warning" - as a politically motivated accusation, and singled out the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT), a sanctions-monitoring mechanism established by the United States and other partner countries, for criticism.
In the statement carried by KCNA, the foreign ministry spokesperson questioned U.S. credibility on cyber threats, saying: "It is illogical that the U.S., which has possessed and operated the biggest cyber force in the world by monopolizing the core resources of cyber space, is talking about 'cyber threat' from other countries."
The remarks appear to be a direct response to a joint alert issued on Friday by the United States, South Korea, Japan and eight additional countries. That advisory warned that North Korean information technology workers have been using false identities to secure remote jobs and to generate revenue for Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.
The multinational alert stated these workers have used increasingly sophisticated tools, including artificial intelligence, to conceal their activities. It warned such actors could present insider risks to companies and said they have been involved in data theft, cryptocurrency theft and the theft of sensitive information.
North Korea's foreign ministry further accused Washington of militarizing cyberspace, pointing to U.S. cyber warfare capabilities and joint cyber exercises conducted with allied nations. The statement said Pyongyang would not tolerate what it described as politically driven attempts to leverage cyber issues as a means of exerting pressure on other countries.
Separately, KCNA on Tuesday published an editorial from a North Korean military commentator who accused the United States, South Korea and Japan of converting the U.S.-led RIMPAC naval exercise into a rehearsal for aggression. The commentator argued that intensifying military cooperation among those countries was generating a new security crisis in the Asia-Pacific region.
The official statements and the editorial reflect Pyongyang's rejection of the multinational cyber advisory and its broader objections to allied military activities and sanctions-related oversight.