South Korea’s Lee Seeks Cybersecurity Body After Binance Theft

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung asked officials to consider a governmentwide cybersecurity body, pointing to the Binance theft as artificial intelligence makes hacking more sophisticated and exposes limits in systems focused on responding after attacks.

Lee raised the proposal at a Cabinet meeting Nov. 3, calling for better coordination between public and private security efforts and a stronger focus on prevention.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) asked 2,100 central and local government bodies and public institutions to carry out their own emergency security checks. The agency also plans direct assessments of critical public infrastructure.

Binance estimated about $6.3 billion in stolen assets after a hot wallet was compromised Oct. 29. The FBI attributed the theft to North Korean hackers, a finding North Korea has denied.