North Korea warns of stronger response to US ‘hostility’

SEOUL: The sister of North Korea's leader has vowed that Pyongyang will respond more fiercely to the US's consistently hostile stance, KCNA reported on Wednesday. Kim Yo Jong, the state news agency quoted her as saying, emphasized that her country would intensify its "reflective counteraction" as the US escalates its hostile actions against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

This comes after North Korea accused the FBI of falsely accusing the country of stealing $6 billion from cryptocurrency platform Binance, amid the recent test-firing of strategic cruise missiles by Pyongyang, showcasing its growing military capabilities. Kim Yo Jong, in her statement, dismissed the Binance case as a "grave political provocation" by the US, which she believes is backfiring politically.

The FBI had initially attributed the hack to a North Korea-affiliated group, TraderTraitor, but Kim Yo Jong rejected this as a "serious political provocation." In addition to the Binance allegations, North Korea has recently tested various weapons, including cruise missiles with new cluster munitions, drones, a precision-guided torpedo system, and an intermediate-range hypersonic missile.

Despite these military displays, Kim Yo Jong indicated that Pyongyang sees no value in restarting diplomatic talks with Washington, stating that the choice for peace includes dialogue, but it does not align with North Korea's national interests.