[Anchor]

North Korea has responded after the United States officially identified the regime as the mastermind behind a cryptocurrency theft worth around 8 trillion won. Kim Yo-jong personally stepped forward, calling the accusation "absurd nonsense" and issuing a pointed remark toward the United States, warning there are "issues to reconsider."

Reporter Kim Ayeong has the details.

[Reporter]

This statement was issued early yesterday (November 3) by Kim Yo-jong, director of the General Affairs Department of North Korea's Workers' Party.

She squarely refuted the announcement by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that North Korea was behind the hacking of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance.

She condemned the U.S. claim as "absurd nonsense" designed to smear North Korea as a cybercrime state, defining it as a grave political provocation.

She also cited the strategic reserve policy decided by the Trump administration last year to confiscate cryptocurrency from Criminals, arguing that looking into who ultimately ends up with the massive sum of cryptocurrency would provide clues about who is truly behind the incident.

In essence, she suggested whether the United States itself was the real culprit.

Typically, when hacking incidents occur, North Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stepped in to deny any involvement.

Kim Yo-jong, who oversees policy toward the United States, breaking with precedent to make a statement is interpreted as an indication of the international fallout surrounding the case.

At the end of the statement, she added a suggestive passage, warning that there will be issues to reconsider from various angles regarding Washington's deeply unpleasant and hostile posture.

[Kim Yong-hyun / Director, Institute of North Korean Studies at Dongguk University: "By demonstrating that (North Korea-U.S. relations) could be adversely affected depending on how the United States responds, the intention is to preemptively deter U.S. pressure on North Korea."]

However, analysts observe that she calibrated her tone, as she did not treat a shift in policy toward Washington as a foregone conclusion and refrained from direct, abrasive slander.

[Park Won-gon / Professor of North Korean Studies at Ewha Womans University: "They are trying to provide room to maneuver for President Trump, who desires North Korea-U.S. dialogue. (Through the denial), it at least offers Trump a justification."]

With North Korea having tossed the ball into the U.S. court, the follow-up measures Washington presents regarding the Binance hacking incident are expected to serve as a barometer for gauging the future climate of North Korea-U.S. relations.

Video by Cho Chun-dong | Video Editing by Lee Seung-jin