U.S. Urges North Korea Sanctions Enforcement After FBI Links Binance Theft

The U.S. State Department urged United Nations member states to enforce existing sanctions against North Korea after the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) blamed North Korean hackers for a theft from cryptocurrency exchange Binance.

The FBI accused North Korean hackers of stealing more than $6 billion in cryptocurrency from Binance. The State Department said enforcing sanctions would help prevent North Korea from raising money for its weapons programs.

In a written response, a State Department spokesperson called coordinated action against North Korean cyber activity critical. The spokesperson described coordinated unilateral sanctions as a tool to disrupt funding for weapons proliferation.

Earlier, Treasury imposed sanctions on one company and 10 people connected to a North Korean IT-worker fraud network and cryptocurrency conversions. Treasury said proceeds from the scheme supported North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs.

The State Department did not say whether Washington had shared investigative findings with South Korea or held bilateral talks about additional sanctions. South Korea had not begun sanctions talks over the Binance theft.