North Korea has denounced new US sanctions targeting its cybercrime networks, accusing Washington of harbouring “wicked” hostility, but analysts have said Pyongyang’s unusually restrained response suggests it is leaving the door open to future dialogue.
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“Now that the present US administration has clarified its stand to be hostile towards the DPRK to the last, we will also take proper measures to counter it with patience for any length of time,” read a statement by North Korean Vice-Foreign Minister Kim Un-chol released on Thursday, referring to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name.
His remarks followed the US Treasury Department’s sanctions imposed on Tuesday against eight individuals and two companies from North Korea who were allegedly involved in laundering money for Pyongyang-backed hacking operations.
Denouncing the US for revealing its “wicked nature”, he warned that Washington should not expect its tactics of “pressure, appeasement, threat and blackmail” to work.
“The US sanctions will have no effect on the DPRK’s thinking and viewpoint on it in the future too, as in the past,” he added.
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Yang Moo-jin, a political-science professor at the University of North Korean Studies, said the latest sanctions were part of US President Donald Trump’s typical strategy of applying pressure before negotiations.