North Korea’s Foreign Ministry rejects cryptocurrency theft allegations as “absurd slander.”
North Korea’s Foreign Ministry has rejected allegations of the country’s involvement in cryptocurrency thefts. A ministry representative described media reports as “absurd slander” and a “political tool” of the United States, writes the state agency KCNA.
Pyongyang stated that Washington is promoting a “hostile policy” against North Korea in this manner.
The Foreign Ministry representative also pointed out the illogicality of the situation where the United States, with “the world’s best cyber capabilities,” portrays itself as “the main victim.”
“Our principled position is to protect cyberspace, the common heritage of humanity, from any malicious actions. We are firmly against attempts to use cyber issues as a political tool to violate sovereignty and interfere in the internal affairs of other countries,” the statement said.
Scale of Losses
Earlier, TRM Labs specialists estimated that hackers linked to North Korea stole about $577 million in the first four months of 2026. This accounts for 76% of all losses in cryptocurrency projects during the specified period.
Source: TRM.
Experts emphasized that North Korea’s share of stolen digital assets increased from less than 10% in 2020-2021 to 64% in 2025. The total damage exceeded $6 billion.
The main contribution to this year’s figure came from two attacks in April. TRM Labs linked the Kelp hack of $292 million to TraderTraitor, a group affiliated with Lazarus.
The Drift exploit of $285 million was attributed by analysts to a separate North Korean subgroup, but its involvement is still being verified.
The UN believes that all stolen funds are spent by North Korea on developing nuclear programs.
Researchers have repeatedly stated that North Korean hackers are actively infiltrating cryptocurrency projects. In mid-April, an Ethereum Foundation fellow discovered 100 North Korean IT agents in Web3 companies.
The network of Pyongyang-linked developers in the crypto industry was also revealed by on-chain detective ZachXBT.
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