Foreign Ministry of the DPRK expresses serious concern over the U.S. judicial authorities' provocation

A spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea gave the following answer to a question raised by KCNA on July 3 as regards the fact that the U.S. judicial authorities recently prosecuted DPRK citizens on the suspicion of a "cyber crime" and put them on a wanted list:

The recent incident is an absurd smear campaign and grave violation of sovereignty aimed at tarnishing the image of our state as it is a continuation of the hostile move of the successive U.S. administrations that have talked much about the non-existent "cyber threat" from the DPRK.

The Foreign Ministry of the DPRK expresses serious concern over the U.S. judicial authorities' provocation which is threatening and encroaching on the security, rights and interests of our citizens by fabricating the groundless "cyber" drama, and strongly denounces and rejects it.

The real threat of creating international cyberspace instability comes not from the DPRK but from the U.S.

The U.S. has long been posing a constant threat to the cyber security of the DPRK and other sovereign states by making cyber space a scene of battle and abusing the cyber issue as a political weapon to tarnish the image of other countries and impair the exercise of their legitimate rights.

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea has the right to take a proper and proportionate countermeasure to thoroughly protect the security and rights of its citizens from the judicial enforcement for a sinister political purpose, and to call to strict legal account the outsiders who took malicious action.

We will never tolerate any hostile act of the U.S. to encroach upon our state's sovereignty through groundless slander and illegal application of judicial means but will firmly defend the legitimate rights and interests of the citizens.