In brief
Kim Yo Jong decried U.S. allegations tying North Korea to the Binance heist as defamation and a breach of sovereignty. North Korean officials also denied any role in the $6 billion theft, labeling U.S. accusations a provocation. The dispute highlights the friction over cybercrime claims between the U.S. and North Korea.
North Korean senior official Kim Yo Jong said on Tuesday that the United States was defaming the DPRK by linking the recent Binance cryptocurrency heist to a North‑Korean hacking group. The theft, which took place on a global exchange and cost more than $6 billion, began on a Friday, making it the largest crypto robbery on record.
Kim, who heads the department that runs the Workers’ Party of Korea’s central committee, warned that the U.S. claim was an attempt to tarnish North Korea’s image as a “cyber criminal state.” She said the U.S. was “attempting 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 added that the U.S.’s move to “mislead the international public opinion” constituted a grave political provocation and violated North Korean sovereignty. Kim said the DPRK was closely watching U.S. provocations and would reconsider its stance against what it called an “unpleasant U.S. hostile attitude.”
North Korea also denied any involvement in the Binance heist. A statement released by the state media said the allegations were “absurd” and called the U.S. announcement a “trite provocation.” The claim is part of a broader U.S. campaign that has linked North Korea to various cyber‑attack incidents around the world, although the country has repeatedly denied such ties.
The dispute over the Binance theft illustrates the continuing tensions between the U.S. and North Korea, especially as U.S. officials criticize Korean cyber capabilities while the DPRK counters with accusations of defamation and interference in its sovereignty.
