North Korea on Tuesday condemned a recent alert issued by 11 countries about Pyongyang’s information technology (IT) worker operations, dismissing the allegations as a politically motivated attempt by the U.S. and its allies to “tarnish” the country’s image.

In a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), a spokesperson for North Korea’s Foreign Ministry accused Washington of fabricating a “groundless theory of cyber threat” to justify pressure on the country and deepen confrontation. 

The statement follows an advisoryissued Friday by the U.S., Japan, South Korea, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the