North Korea denied all involvement in cyber attacks in state media on Thursday, following recent U.S. claims that the DPRK was culpable for the WannaCry ransomware attack earlier this year.

The article, which quotes an unnamed spokesperson for the DPRK Ministry of Foreign Affairs, claimed that the attribution of blame for the hacking was an excuse by the U.S. to introduce further sanctions against Pyongyang.

“The United States is now inciting the global confrontation against us by forcibly linking to the DPRK the latest incident of cyber-attack which has given rise to a great international outcry,” the spokesperson is quoted as