Kim Yo Jong Denies North Korea’s Role in Binance’s $6.3B Theft

Kim Yo Jong, a senior North Korean ruling party official, denied Pyongyang was responsible for the reported $6.3 billion theft from crypto exchange Binance, calling the U.S. allegation “absurd rhetoric.”

The FBI’s Oct. 31 advisory named the North Korean-linked TraderTraitor operation as the group behind Binance’s loss of more than $6 billion in digital assets. It described Ether (ETH) as the main destination for stolen funds and expected additional laundering through decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms and instant-swap services.

Kim accused Washington of trying to portray North Korea as a “cyber criminal state” and called the allegation a “grave political provocation.” She also accused Washington of misleading global opinion and blaming Pyongyang for cybercrimes committed around the world.

The attack on Oct. 29 involved Binance hot wallets across 10 blockchain networks. The U.S. Secret Service, the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation unit and Justice Department officials are working with the FBI to locate and freeze the funds. Binance has used its own funds to restore about 95% of affected assets.