Kim Yo Jong denies North Korea steals Binance crypto assets

(Deutsche Welle Chinese) Pyongyang has denied accusations that it stole more than $6 billion from cryptocurrency exchange Binance. According to North Korean official media KCNA, Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, called the accusation a "serious political provocation" and said the US statement was a "ridiculous statement with nothing new."

The FBI said on Saturday (October 31) that the Binance theft was related to malicious cyber activities carried out by an organization called "Trader Traitor" and that North Korea was the mastermind behind the hacker attack.

According to reports, this is the largest theft against a cryptocurrency exchange in recorded history, far exceeding the approximately $1.5 billion attack on Bybit exchange in 2025 that was also attributed to North Korean hackers. According to the German News Agency, blockchain analysis company TRM Labs linked the two attacks to the same hacker group and said that the group transferred most of the funds within 20 minutes.

Kim Yo-jong, who serves as the General Affairs Minister of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, said on Tuesday (November 3) that whenever a cybercrime incident occurs internationally, "the United States blindly links it to North Korea in an attempt to spread a wrong understanding of North Korea to the international community and damage North Korea's international image."

She also said Pyongyang now "has issues that need to be reconsidered" given Washington's hostile attitude.

North Korea has remained silent regarding Trump's intention to resume summit meetings. Analysts in South Korea told Reuters that North Korea's swift denial reflected concerns that Washington might step up efforts to cut off a source of funding widely believed to fund its weapons development.