Pyongyang's denial

North Korea has dismissed the allegations that it carried out a $6 billion theft of virtual assets from the exchange, describing the US position as absurd rhetoric in a statement carried by KCNA on Tuesday. The denial came from Kim Yo Jong, the sister of leader Kim Jong Un and an influential ruling party official. She said the American assertion was recycled and amounted to nothing new.

What the FBI said

The US side of the dispute rests on an attribution issued at the weekend, when the FBI said North Korea was responsible for the theft of more than $6 billion in virtual assets from Binance, the world's biggest cryptocurrency exchange - a heist that could be the largest ever recorded.

• •The FBI said members of a North Korean state-sponsored unit known as TraderTraitor carried out the attack.
• •Investigators observed the attackers converting the stolen assets to Ethereum and expected them to launder the funds further.

'Cybercriminal state' charge rejected

In her statement, Kim Yo Jong said the FBI was trying to brand the DPRK as a 'cybercriminal state' on the basis of information that a hacking organisation 'supported' by the DPRK was involved in the theft.

She went further, saying it amounted to a grave political provocation that the US misleads international public opinion as if all cybercrimes worldwide were North Korea's deeds. North Korea denies all such allegations, though cybersecurity experts say North Korean hackers are among the world's most prolific crypto thieves and that proceeds help fund the country's weapons programmes.

Warning for diplomacy

Kim Yo Jong paired the denial with a warning that US hostility could affect future diplomatic engagement. She said North Korea would "reconsider" unspecified issues in light of what she called the very unpleasant US hostile attitude.

Her remarks come at a delicate moment: Pyongyang has stayed silent on US President Donald Trump's overtures to resume summit diplomacy, and experts say the leadership may still be weighing its options. Binance, for its part, has said it covered most of the assets stolen from the platform using company money.