The Democratic People's Republic of Korea has refuted ongoing allegations regarding state-sponsored crypto theft, even as blockchain intelligence data showed DPRK-linked actors stole about $577 million through the first four months of 2026.

A spokesperson for the regime's Foreign Ministry described the accusations as "absurd slander" and a "political tool" designed to facilitate a "hostile policy" by the U.S., state news agency KCNA reported on Sunday. 

The spokesperson said that it is unreasonable for Washington — which they described as possessing the world's best cyber technical power — to portray itself as the "world's greatest victim," according to the report. The spokesperson added that North Korea will "never tolerate" confrontation attempts and will take "all necessary measures" to defend its state interests.

The response comes as North Korea's share of global crypto hack losses has accelerated rather than plateaued, rising from below 10% in 2020 and 2021 to 64% in 2025, according to TRM Labs.

TRM said North Korea-linked actors extracted about $577 million in the first four months of 2026, accounting for 76% of global cryptocurrency hack losses over the period. The total was driven by two April incidents, including the $292 million KelpDAO exploit and the $285 million attack on Drift Protocol, which together represented 3% of all recorded incidents this year through April by count.

TRM attributed the KelpDAO breach to TraderTraitor, a Lazarus-affiliated operation, while saying the Drift attack involved a separate subgroup, with attribution still under review. Cumulative crypto theft attributed to North Korea has exceeded $6 billion since 2017, the blockchain intelligence firm said. 

U.S. and international authorities have consistently linked these funds to the regime's military infrastructure. A recent UN report noted that stolen digital assets serve as an important revenue source for Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

U.S. authorities have also taken enforcement action tied to these activities. On March 13, the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned six individuals and two entities linked to DPRK IT worker schemes that generated nearly $800 million in 2024, including facilitators who enabled cryptocurrency transactions and converted funds into digital assets.