(CNN) — North Korea on Sunday called for an investigation into what it described as a “grave terrorist attack” on its embassy in Madrid last month, in its first official statement on the break-in. The North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged Spanish authorities to investigate the raid on February 22, in which it claims an armed group “bound, beat and tortured” staff before making off with computers. The ministry added that it was watching “rumors” that the FBI and another anti-North Korea group were responsible for the raid, but did not blame Washington explicitly, Reuters reported. North Korea called the “illegal intrusion” a “grave breach of state sovereignty” and called on Spanish authorities to bring those responsible to justice in “conformity with the relevant international law.” A secretive North Korean dissident group – called Cheollima Civil Defense (CCD) – claimed responsibility for the raid but disputed allegations of an “attack” involving armed intruders. The group also denied that any other foreign governments were involved in the operation or that it was related to US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s summit in Hanoi, which occurred days later. “This was not an attack. We responded to an urgent situation in the Madrid embassy. We were invited into the embassy, and contrary to reports, no one was gagged or beaten. Out of respect for the host nation of Spain, no weapons were used. All occupants in the embassy were treated with dignity and necessary caution. There were no other governments involved with or aware of our activity until after the event,” a statement released by CCD said. Group contacted FBI with material, says report But just five days after the incident, the group’s alleged leader, a US resident, contacted the FBI with material obtained from the raid, according to a document from Spain’s High Court. The document said the alleged leader contacted the FBI “in order to provide information regarding the incident at the Embassy, ​​as well as the audiovisual material allegedly obtained” during the raid. The CCD maintains that they shared information with the FBI voluntarily, but at the bureau’s request. The FBI declined to comment. The US State Department’s deputy spokesperson Robert Palladino, meanwhile, maintained that the US government “had nothing to do with” the incident at the embassy. He also noted that the US “would always call for the protection of embassies belonging to any diplomatic mission throughout the world.” Police in Madrid continue to investigate the break-in. Bex Wright reported from Hong Kong, Larry Register reported from Atlanta and Sheena McKenzie wrote in London. Zacahary Cohen contributed to this report.<doc-sep>North Korea says Madrid embassy raid was 'grave terror attack' Published 31 March 2019 image copyright AFP image caption Pyongyang has called for an investigation into the raid North Korea has described a break-in at its embassy in Spain last month as a "grave terrorist attack". In its first official comment, the government demanded an investigation and said it was closely watching rumours that the FBI had played a role. On Wednesday a group committed to ousting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, the Cheollima Civil Defense, said it carried out the raid. The group took computers and data and said it gave its evidence to the FBI. At least two international arrest warrants have been issued for the main suspects. "A grave terrorist attack occurred on February 22, where an armed group assaulted the DPRK Embassy in Spain," a spokesman for the North's foreign ministry said in a statement. What happened in the raid? Spanish authorities say one of the group, named as Adrian Hong Chang, gained access by asking to see the commercial attaché, whom he claimed to have met previously to discuss business matters. His accomplices burst in once he was inside. The group are accused of interrogating the attaché and trying to persuade him to defect. When he refused, they left him tied up in the basement. image copyright Google Maps image caption The two-storey embassy has a swimming pool and lies to the north-west of central Madrid Two other members of the break-in group were named as US citizen Sam Ryu, and a South Korean, Woo Ran Lee. Embassy staff were held hostage for several hours. One woman managed to flee, escaping through a window and screaming for help. Concerned neighbours quickly called the police. When officers arrived, they were greeted by Adrian Hong Chang, posing as a North Korean diplomat in a jacket with a Kim Jong-un lapel badge. He told the police that all was well, and nothing had happened. Most of the group later fled the embassy in three North Korean diplomatic vehicles. Mr Hong Chang and some others left later via the back entrance using another vehicle. They split up into four groups and headed to Portugal. Mr Hong Chang - a Mexican citizen who lives in the US - allegedly contacted the FBI to give his version of events five days later. What do we know about this group? Cheollima Civil Defense (CDC), also known as Free Joseon, is committed to overthrowing North Korea's ruling Kim dynasty. A video posted on its website and YouTube page purports to show one of the intruders smashing portraits of North Korea's communist leaders inside the Madrid embassy. CDC first came to prominence after taking credit for getting Kim Jong-un's nephew, Kim Han-sol, safely out of Macau after the assassination of his father. Kim Jong-nam - who was the North Korean leader's estranged half-brother - was murdered at an airport in Malaysia in 2017. Kim Han-sol has expressed his desire to go back to North Korea, and has referred to his uncle as a "dictator". What have authorities said about who is behind it? Sources close to the investigation reportedly told Spanish newspaper El País that the operation was planned perfectly, as if by a "military cell". The attackers seemed to know what they were looking for. Spanish authorities suspect US intelligence agencies and their allies could have been involved in the attack, according to El País and El Confidencial. El País even reports that two of the group have links to the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The CIA declined to comment to the BBC. The US has denied any involvement in the raid. Why would anyone attack the embassy? Reports say the attackers could have been looking for information on North Korea's former ambassador to Madrid, Kim Hyok-chol, who was expelled from Spain in September 2017 over North Korea's nuclear testing programme. image copyright EPA/Yonhap image caption Kim Hyok-chol helped organise the Hanoi summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un<doc-sep>North Korea expects the Spanish authorities to “bring the terrorists and their wire pullers to justice in conformity with the relevant international law,” he said. The raid at the North Korean Embassy took place five days before the start of President Trump’s summit meeting in Vietnam with North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un. Ten suspects attacked embassy employees with knives, machetes, metal bars and fake pellet guns, a Spanish judge investigating the case said last week. After holding the employees hostage for several hours, the assailants fled with a cellphone, two pen drives, and two computers and two hard drives that probably contained security footage, the judge reported. The judge identified the leader of the gang as Adrian Hong Chang, who he said was a Mexican man who lives in the United States. Mr. Hong Chang escaped to the United States and got in touch with the F.B.I., offering to share “audiovisual material” obtained during the embassy attack, the judge said. An international arrest warrant has also been issued for an American identified as Sam Ruy. A mysterious organization that describes itself as a dissident group dedicated to toppling Mr. Kim’s regime in Pyongyang has since claimed responsibility. The group, known as Cheollima Civil Defense, or Free Joseon, said on its website that its action at the embassy had not been “an attack,” that no one had been beaten and that no weapons had been used.<doc-sep>
North Korea said Sunday it wants an investigation into a raid on its embassy in Spain last month, calling it a "grave terrorist attack" and an act of extortion that violates international law. The incident occurred ahead of President Donald Trump's second summit with leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi on Feb. 27-28. A mysterious group calling for the overthrow of the North Korean regime has claimed responsibility. The group says it handed over data stolen from the raid to the FBI, and a law enforcement source familiar with the matter confirmed to NBC News that the bureau has received the information. The North's official media quoted a Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying that an illegal intrusion into and occupation of a diplomatic mission and an act of extortion are a grave breach of the state sovereignty and a flagrant violation of international law, "and this kind of act should never be tolerated." He claimed an armed group tortured the staff and suggested they stole communications gear. Spanish authorities have accused a 10-member gang of entering the embassy on Feb. 22 under a false pretext, beating and tying up the staff, trying unsuccessfully to persuade an accredited North Korean diplomat to defect, and making off with computers and digital files. The anti-regime group, Free Joseon, or Free Korea, has claimed responsibility for the intrusion, though it denies beating or gagging any of the embassy personnel. The group, also known as Cheollima Civil Defense, portrays itself as a movement to liberate North Korea from an "immoral and illegitimate regime." The group said on Tuesday it had no contact with any foreign government before the intrusion but said it had offered information of "enormous potential value to the FBI" after the raid. Spain has issued two international arrest warrants in the case, one for a Mexican national residing in the U.S., Adrian Hong Chang, and the other for an American citizen. After lifting a secrecy order in the case, a Spanish investigating judge revealed the identities of seven of the alleged 10 intruders in a court document on Tuesday. It remained unclear if the Spanish government identified the suspects in the raid through their own investigation or whether U.S. authorities had passed on the names of the alleged intruders. The group has alleged the U.S. betrayed its trust after members approached the FBI. "The organization shared certain information of enormous potential value with the FBI in the United States, under mutually agreed terms of confidentiality," the group said on its website. "This information was shared voluntarily and on their request, not our own. Those terms appear to have been broken."