North Korea has dismissed U.S. accusations linking its hackers to a record-breaking cryptocurrency heist at Binance, slamming the announcement as a “trite provocation.”
The denial follows a statement from the FBI attributing the massive theft of over $6 billion from the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange to TraderTraitor, a state-sponsored hacking group previously tied to a $1.5 billion attack on Bybit.
Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, fiercely rejected the claims in a Tuesday statement.
“This is not the first time that the U.S. has attempted to spread misunderstanding of the DPRK in the international community, blindly linking the DPRK with the ‘cyber crime’ incidents whenever they occur on an international scale,” she said, referencing the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
“On this occasion, we confirmed Washington’s hostile attitude toward the DPRK once again and are closely monitoring a variety of persistent provocations of the U.S. against our state,” Kim Yo Jong added.
Outside analysts maintain that Pyongyang increasingly relies on illicit cyber operations and cryptocurrency theft to generate foreign currency, bolstering its stagnant economy and funding its nuclear program against international sanctions.
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry echoed these global security concerns, emphasizing that the regime’s cyber activities present a growing danger to the international digital economy.
The exchange breach coincided with heightened military activity from North Korea, which announced the testing of a new cluster warhead for strategic cruise missiles amid potential diplomatic overtures involving U.S. President Donald Trump.
Speaking to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Trump indicated that investigators were still verifying the source of the attack.
“I’m not concerned. We’re learning about it,” Trump said. “We don’t know if it’s North Korea.”
Concluding her remarks, Kim Yo Jong warned that Pyongyang is weighing its options in response to ongoing foreign pressure:
“We have issues to reconsider in diverse aspects as regards the very unpleasant U.S. hostile attitude.”