North Korea refutes claims that it stole crypto to fund missile program

The United Nations recently released a report saying North Korea had hacked into cryptocurrency exchanges and stolen $50 million worth of digital assets. North Korea has since refuted these claims.

North Korea refutes claims of hacking into exchanges

According to a publication by EDaily, the North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs has strongly refuted these claims. The ministry published a response on its website saying that the US was falsely accusing it of theft.

“The United States, which has long determined cyberspace as an important stage for maintaining its monopoly dominance, is equipped with vast cyber capabilities and means, and is willing to carry out cyber-attacks on its enemies as well as its allies without hesitation,” the ministry said.

The ministry also emphasized on the recent revelations by Edward Snowden, a former US intelligence agent. Snowden testified that the US National Security Agency used surveillance programs to gather civilian information and that the US was intercepting calls and messages between European leaders.

“It is a shameless act of thieves to use the baton to arbitrarily label other countries as ‘Cyber Crime Bureau’ by pretending to be a ‘Cyber Police Officer’ rather than reflecting on it as the world’s largest cybercriminal state.” The ministry also added that the US saying that North Korea was involved in cyberattacks and the theft of cryptocurrencies was a “threat and challenge to our country’s sovereignty.”

Multiple reports accuse the country of crypto hacks

Chainalysis, a blockchain analytics firm, issued a report last month stating that North Korean hackers had managed to steal around $395M worth of cryptocurrencies through hacking crypto platforms.

Earlier this week, the UN issued a report saying North Korea had stolen millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency to fund its missile programme. Investigators said that between 2020 and Mid-2021, over $50M was stolen.

The report stated that the stolen funds were an “important revenue source” for the nuclear and ballistic missile programme happening in the country. The report further stated that three cryptocurrency exchanges operating in North America, Europe and Asia were targeted.

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