SEOUL (Dispatches) -- North Korea has denied "wicked” British claims it was behind the WannaCry ransomware attack and warned the accusation is "beyond the limit of our tolerance.”
A third of Britain's public hospitals were affected when the global cyber attack hit the NHS May, according to a government report, while up to 300,000 computers in 150 countries were also affected.
Britain has pointed the finger at Pyongyang, saying that the code used was similar to past hacks blamed on the country. British Home Office minister Ben Wallace said last week that London was "as sure as possible” that North Korea was responsible.
But North Korea has slammed the UK over the accusation, calling it a "wicked attempt” to further tighten sanctions against the country.  
The worm seized systems and demanded payment in Bitcoin to return control to users.
A spokesman for the North's Korea-Europe Association denied the accusations and warned Britain against "groundless speculation.”
"This is an act beyond the limit of our tolerance and it makes us question the real purpose behind the UK's move,” he said, in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency late Monday.
"The moves of the UK government to doggedly associate the DPRK with the cyberattack cannot be interpreted in any other way than a wicked attempt to lure the international community into harboring greater mistrust of the DPRK,” the spokesman said, using the initials of the North's official name.
According to the South Korean government, the North has a 6,800-strong unit of trained cyberwarfare specialists. It has been accused of launching high-profile cyberattacks, including the 2014 hacking of Sony Pictures.