North Korea Denies Any Link To Boston Marathon Bombs, But Says It Still May Strike US

After the Boston Marathon bombings last week, numerous conspiracy theories and unconfirmed accusations floated around the Web, many of which attributed the attack that killed three people and wounded more than 200 on various shadowy entities, forces and governments.

One theory, which was published by World Net Daily, a far-right website, suggested that North Korea was behind the Boston Marathon attack. In light of North Korea’s recent warlike threats against the U.S., the story entertained the idea that the Islamic extremists of al Qaeda and the atheistic Communists of Pyongyang conspired together to perpetrate the atrocity in Boston.

“[The bombings occurred] on the same day as the 101st anniversary of the birthday of North Korean founder Kim Il Sung, raising questions among analysts whether Pyongyang, as in some of its past terrorism, used proxies to carry out the attack in the U.S.,” the article said. It also asserted that the “North Korea-al Qaeda relationship has been known to U.S. intelligence officials for years.”

WND also cited a U.S. intelligence document uncovered by Wikileaks which purported that in November 2005, Osama bin Laden’s financial adviser flew to Iran from North Korea and met with the notorious Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who was backed by the U.S. against the Soviets but has allied with the Taliban.

Now, Korean Central News Agency, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea’s official state media, sought to dispel any such rumors linking Pyongyang with the attack in Boston, claiming to be victims of the “mean practice” of Western, right-wing propaganda.

“The U.S. Internet newspaper World Net Daily speaking for U.S. conservative forces recently released a false story linking the bomb explosion during the Boston Marathon to the DPRK,” said the agency.

“It reported the misinformation that the DPRK used such an agent as Al Qaeda for attacking the U.S. The DPRK categorically dismisses this anti-DPRK ruckus made by the conservative daily bereft of any elementary appearance as a medium as a false propaganda which does not deserve even a passing note,” it continued. Though the article does not offer any specific condolences to the victims of attack, it asserted North Korea's opposition to terrorism.

“The DPRK would like to stress once again that it has no [contact] with Al Qaeda and has consistently maintained the stand of opposing all forms of terrorism by acceding to international conventions against terrorism.”

Through their wording, it seems that the DPRK does not see its own actions or threats against the U.S. as acts of terror, insisting that its has consistently opposed all forms of international terrorism. Indeed, after setting the record straight as it were, the North Korean news agency added that if necessary it could still attack the U.S., just not in such a “heinous” fashion.

The report also claims that placing the blame on North Korea is a deliberate tactic used by "conservative forces" to put the nation back on the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism, from which they were removed in 2008 by the Bush administration.