N. Korea's Kim Yo-jong says dialogue with U.S. an option but not a must for national interest

SEOUL, Nov. 4 (Yonhap) -- North Korea said Wednesday that dialogue with the United States remains an option for peace but suggested it must serve the country's national interests, as it criticized U.S. allegations of the North's involvement in a major cryptocurrency theft from Binance.

Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, made the remarks, saying the continued "hostile signal" by Washington was compelling the regime to reconsider the "true nature" of the U.S., according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

"The choice for peace includes dialogue of course, but this is not surely equated with national interests for us," Kim Yo-jong was quoted as saying.

The remarks come as the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation announced Saturday that it found the regime was behind the theft of more than US$6 billion in cryptocurrency from Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange.

"The so-called 'cryptocurrency hacking case by the DPRK' is no more than a tip of iceberg that shows the essence of the U.S. hostile policy toward the DPRK," Kim said, referring to the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Kim pointed to a recent trilateral meeting between the top diplomats of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan, where they reaffirmed their commitment to the complete denuclearization of North Korea, along with various joint military drills, as other examples of U.S. hostility.

Her remarks were made a day after she blasted the FBI's attribution to the North in the Binance case as a "grave political provocation" against the North in a rare statement carried by the KCNA.

sookim@yna.co.kr
(END)